Ludhiana: A lot of action was witnessed at the Ludhiana railway station on the first day of resumption of passenger trains after almost a gap of two months. Till the filing of this news 9 passenger trains halted here on Tuesday but the turnout of the passengers was not that huge on the first day. However, not willing to take any chances amid the spike in the cases of coronavirus, the authorities allowed the entry to the platforms only after thermal scanning of the passengers.
Meanwhile, in a boost for the garment industry the transportation of cartons of goods which were stuck at the railway station ever since the train movement had halted, too started from Tuesday via the parcel wagons attached with the passenger trains. The food stalls and other cart operators whose business had remained shut due to the farmer agitation too started returning to the railway station and they remained busy in the cleaning operations of their carts.
Giving more information about developments, Tarun Kumar, station director, Ludhiana, said “Nine passenger trains halted on Tuesday at the Ludhiana railway station and everything went on smoothly for us. Being the first day of resumption of passenger trains on this route, the passenger turnout was not huge but it will increase in coming days. We are already taking all safety measures needed in the wake of coronavirus like thermal screening and ensuring that all our employee and staff follow proper protocols in day-to-day working. All operations on Tuesday were carried out successfully by our staff who have been on their toes ever since the information for resumption of trains was received by us.”
Speaking to TOI, Dinesh Kalra, president of Ludhiana Business Forums, said, “The resumption of trains will benefit the garment industry most as not only we will be able to meet the growing demand of winter garments from our customers in other states as railways is the fastest, cheapest and safest mode of transport of goods. Secondly, it will also help businessmen to restart the business tour to collect payment from our customers located in other states. But we are worried over what will happen after December 10 as the farmer unions have warned to return to tracks and railway stations for stopping the trains once again.”
According to Munna Tiwari, a vendor at the railway station, “We are feeling very relieved as finally after two months of sitting free, we have returned to the railway station to start our business. On Tuesday, we remained busy in cleaning of the cart and getting all stuff required for restarting our work. From Wednesday, we will start operating and we are hoping to do good sales as we are expecting that a huge number of passengers will travel on trains.”