Indian Railways will run train services as per demand, Chairman Railway Board and CEO Suneet Sharma, said in a conference here Thursday.
He added that the Railways is in contact with the States and they are running special trains for Gorakhpur, Patna, Darbhanga, Varanasi, Guwahati, Prayagraj, Bokaro, Ranchi and Lucknow, among others.
In the context of surge in Covid-19 spread that the country is witnessing, some states like Uttarakhand and Odisha are asking for negative test reports for arriving passengers. But, as of now, Railways is letting passengers use trains by maintaining other Covid-19 protocols.
“We will run services whenever there is a requirement. The DRMs and GMs have been empowered,” said Sharma.
Sharma added that they are taking all possible precautions for the railway staff and many of the railway employees have been vaccinated to ensure safety.
When questioned about the possibility of a situation like last year arising, the CRB and CEO also said that while there is usual summer rush (which they usually see every year), there is no data as of today to show any “exodus”.
Railways has enough line capacity right now on an average, with 70 per cent of services running.
“In the Mumbai area, in last ten days (March 29-April 7), we ran 168 trains with 901 trips carrying 12.23 lakh passengers (the occupancy was 90 per cent). In the next ten days; 177 trains are planned with 929 trips (11 extra trains) and the booking occupancy is 60 per cent. In some routes that are seeing higher demand, we are running special trains,” said another Railway Board official, adding that in Bengaluru, they ran special trains (due to bus strike); in North Capital Region, we are planning to run special trains.