As part of strengthening the steps to check the spread of COVID-19, Railways have closed down all waiting rooms at the railway stations under the Thiruvananthapuram railway division.
Although it was decided in the morning that only air-conditioned waiting rooms would be shut, the authorities swung into action and locked up all the waiting rooms across the division as a precautionary measure.
Divisional Railway Manager Shirish Kumar Sinha said Railways could not take any risk as waiting rooms were frequented by many commuters and it was difficult to keep a tab on all of them.
“These waiting rooms have bathrooms used by hundreds. The wash basins also are potential threats. It will cause inconvenience to the commuters, but we cannot take the risk in view of the COVID-19 alert,” Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Rajesh Chandran said here.
The Divisional Railway Manager said that Railways could not take the risk and avoid the breath-analyser test for loco pilots before the beginning and end of duty on trains.
Railways had approached the State for 2,000 masks needed for the frontline personnel who are in direct contact with the commuters.
New masks
Dr. Chandran said Railways were taking the initiative to come up with a three-layer mask made of banian material, polyster, and cotton to overcome the present shortage of the masks.
The prototype would be made available to the State on Friday itself, he added.