Mumbai: With the coronavirus cases on the rise, the Western Railway on Thursday announced that the services of Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express would be suspended for a month from April 2. The development comes as Maharashtra on Thursday reported 43,183 new COVID-19 cases, its highest one-day rise since the pandemic began and 249 deaths during the day. On the other hand, Gujarat reported its highest single-day spike of 2,410 COVID-19 cases.
Making the announcement, Divisional Railway Manager, Ahmedabad Division, said in a tweet, “Keeping in view the rising COVID-19 cases and in the larger public interest, it has been decided to suspend the Services of train no. 82902/82901 Ahmedabdad-Mumbai Central-Ahmedabad Tejas Express wef 02.04.21 for a period of one month.”
The Western Railways had resumed the Mumbai Central-Ahmedabad Tejas Express regularly four days a week from February 14 this year. Moreover, the IRCTC had also cancelled all the trips of Mumbai Central-Ahmedabad Tejas Express from 24 November last year due to poor occupancy levels owing to COVID-19 pandemic, after resuming its services in October.
In the meantime, the Railways said it is likely to restore its train services over the next two months, provided the state governments give their approval and the coronavirus pandemic is under control.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) official said that the night curfews have also been implemented in both the connecting states, which may cause inconvenience to passengers in general.