The Secunderabad railway station saw 245 passengers alighting from Bengaluru-New Delhi AC special train and 228 passengers getting into the train on Thursday morning. Along the route, 30 passengers got down at Anantapur and 14 got in while 23 passengers got down at Guntakal and 14 got in en route New Delhi, senior railway officials said.

From Friday, the special train will be arriving daily from New Delhi on way to Bengaluru in the evenings and arrive from Bengaluru on way to New Delhi in the mornings. TS health department and revenue officials were at the station to stamp ‘Home quarantine’ on the passengers’ hands soon after disembarking. The contact details like mobile number and home address of each passenger was taken by them for monitoring their health status during the period.

The passengers here had to make their own arrangements to reach homes whereas in Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh, local government officials had arranged vehicles for dropping the passengers home with no quarantine stamps but only advising them not to move out for the next fortnight. They were also asked to contact the health authorities in case of any issue, said senior railway officials.

Meanwhile, the Secunderabad station was cleaned and disinfected with separate entry/exit gates for the incoming and outgoing passengers with only confirmed ticket holders allowed in after temperature check. Sanitisers were made available with social distance markings on the platforms. The railway police were at hand to ensure that there was an orderly getting in and out of the trains.