‘70% of Indian Railways’ total passenger train services currently operational’

Railway Board Chairman and CEO Suneet Sharma on Friday said 70% of the Indian Railways’ total passenger train services were currently operational, and that no State had yet asked the Railways to stop services amid daily record spikes in COVID-19 cases in the country.

“I assure you that there is no dearth of services, the situation is quite normal…” Mr. Sharma said, replying to a query during a press conference.

The Indian Railways is currently running 1,490 mail and express trains, 5,397 suburban train services, and 947 passenger trains, including MEMU (mainline electric multiple unit), DMU (diesel multiple unit) and EMU (electric multiple unit).

“As of now, no State government has asked us to stop trains. However, whenever there are concerns, the State governments have discussed the issues with us, and where there are containment zones, they are doing random tests and checks,” the Chairman said.