New Delhi: Indian Railways will begin operating 40 pairs of new special trains (80 trains) starting September 12. The reservation for these new trains will start from September 10, said Vinod Kumar Yadav, president of the Board of Railways.
These 80 new trains will join the 230 special trains already in operation, said Yadav, who was recently appointed first chief executive officer of Indian Railways.
Regular train service has been suspended in the country since March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Yadav said the Railways will be monitoring all trains that are currently in operation to determine which trains have a long waiting list.
“Wherever there is demand for a particular train, where the waiting list is long, we will operate a clone train before the actual train, so that passengers can travel,” said the chairman of the railway board.
Yadav also said that the Railways will operate trains as long as there is demand from the states for testing or other similar purposes.
He further said that the bullet train project has progressed well and that Covid-19 affected some tenders and the land acquisition process.
“Within the next 3-6 months, when we obtain the definitive state of the land, we can establish the completion schedule for the bullet train project,” he said.
The national carrier has recently decided to operate 20 pairs of special trains from September 2-15 for the convenience of those taking these exams in Bihar.
In announcing the measure, Railways Minister Piyush Goyal said the facilities will also be extended to students taking the National Defense Academy (NDA) exam.
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