Indian Railways will deploy 80 special trains starting September 12, in an attempt to meet demand, which will add to the 230 special trains that are currently operating, the Ministry of Railways announced on Saturday.
Reservations for the special trains will begin on September 10, the ministry said. The government will also deploy ‘clone trains’ on routes where occupancy is higher depending on the waiting list for trains.
“We will notify 80 new special trains or 40 pairs of trains that will start operating from September 12. Reservations will begin from September 10. This will be added to the 230 trains that are already in operation,” said the president and executive director of the railway board, VK Yadav. said.
“Wherever there is demand for a particular train, wherever the waiting list is long, we will operate a clone train before the actual train, so that passengers can travel,” he added.
Yadav said that the stops of the clone trains will be less than those of the special trains. “The idea is to have stops at the main stations so that the cloned trains meet the demands of the people,” he said.
In July, the global occupancy of special trains stood at 75%. According to data from the Ministry of Railways, only a quarter of these trains had an occupancy rate of 100%. Yadav said that train occupancy has increased as much as 80-85% now and about a dozen trains are low occupancy now.
Yadav said the key factors in deciding the 80 new trains was the fact that there were many stations from which migrant workers return to their places of work from their places of origin. Railways is also coordinating with state governments while deciding on the introduction of new trains, he added.
“Many of these trains run in the opposite direction to Shramik special trains. So, they leave their homes and go to their places of work. The occupation of 12 trains is much lower among the 230 trains, so we are operating them, but we will reduce the number of coaches. We are monitoring train occupancy and will operate more trains based on demand, ”Yadav said.
He also said that the Railways will operate trains as long as there is demand for tests from the states. The Railways Ministry had said it will operate special trains in all states for students taking the National Entrance and Eligibility Test (NEE) and the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE). The National Testing Agency (NTA) will conduct the NEET on September 13 and the JEE on September 1-6.
The announcement comes in the context of the Unlock 4 plan announced by the Center on August 29. Issuing the “Unblock 4” guidelines, the Home Office (MHA) said the latest plan aimed to reopen more economic activities outside the containment zones and was published after receiving comments from the states and territories of the Union, and extensive consultations with central ministries and departments.
Under the plan, metro services across all of India except Maharashtra will resume in phases from September 7, and all will be operational on September 12, according to the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, a move that will increase significantly the capacity of public transport throughout the country. India, and especially Delhi, but also in the context of an increase in cases in the country.
Currently, the Railways have suspended all regular passenger trains indefinitely. Regular trains have been suspended since March 22. In early June, the ministry had said that passenger trains, including express and suburban services that were previously suspended until June 30, will not operate until August 12. The 15 pairs of Rajdhani premium trains connecting Delhi with different parts of the country, which started on May 12, and 100 pairs of long-distance trains, which started on June 1, will continue to operate.
On August 11, the ministry clarified that all regular trains will remain suspended, but that additional special trains will be operated as required.
“This is to inform all concerned that, as previously decided and reported, regular passenger and suburban train services will continue to be suspended until further notice. It should be noted that 230 special trains, which are currently in operation, will continue to operate … The occupancy of special trains is regularly monitored. Additional special trains can be run as per requirements. However, all other regular trains and suburban trains running before the closure will remain suspended for the time being, ”the ministry said.
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