As many as 900 passengers left by the Godavari Express Special, as trains resumed operations after a two-month lockdown due to COVID-19, from the Visakhapatnam railway station on Monday.
The passengers started arriving at the Gnanapuram-side of the railway station at around 2.30 p.m., much before the scheduled departure of the train at 5.20 p.m. The railways had also asked passengers to arrive two hours in advance in view of the COVID-19 protocol to be followed at the railway station. They were asked to form a queue and the gate was opened around 3.30 p.m. The passengers were allowed in batches of 10 at a time onto the platform (PF-8). An infra red camera was fixed to a stand and it was connected to a computer screen at the entrance to the platform. The camera recorded the body temperature of the passengers as they passed through and displayed it on the screen. If any passenger, had more than the prescribed body temperature, an indication in red colour would be displayed on the screen and the passenger would be prevented from boarding the train.
Some senior citizens and children were asked by the authorities as to why they booked their tickets, when the government has advised them not to travel except in emergencies. The senior citizens said they were stuck for over two months in the city due to the lockdown. Some relatives came to see off their family members and wanted to go onto the platform but were sent back.
Civil Defence volunteers checked the masks of passengers and stopping those who failed to wear them. TTEs were provided with a face shield to protect them from the virus.
“Today this train (Godavari Express) will stop at all the regular stations and pick up passengers and we are awaiting further guidelines from the Railway Board on stoppages from Tuesday,” Senior Divisional Commercial Manager G. Suneel Kumar told this correspondent, before the train left the platform.
Station Director Raja Gopal, who was monitoring the implementation of the COVID-19 protocol at the station, said: “Godavari Special and AP Express Special have been presently cleared for operation from Visakhapatnam Junction. Falaknuma and Konark Express are the other special express trains which will pass through Visakhapatnam. The station is fully geared up with social distancing and other guidelines being implemented at the station. Another 377 passengers can board the train en route as its total capacity is 1,277.”
A good number of passengers, who had to board the Visakhapatnam – New Delhi AP Express, which was scheduled to leave at 10 p.m., were seen waiting outside the station for more than five hours in advance. “We are yet get any official communication regarding provision of stoppages at intermediate stations in the State from Tuesday,” Divisional Railway Manager Chetan Kumar Shrivastav told The Hindu, when contacted in the evening.