The Railways is all set to resume operations of 50 special trains, halted due to the pandemic, from June 21 with the improvement in the Covid-19 situation and surge in passenger demand.
A new summer special train is also being started from June 25, from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh to Bandra Terminus in Maharashtra.
The number of trains has been increased gradually as per demand and commercial justification. From 800 mail/ express trains which were in operation daily in the first week of June, passenger services have gone up to 983 mail/ express trains as on Friday, which is about 56% of the pre-Covid level. Between June 1-18, approval to operate 660 additional mail/ express trains has been given to the zonal railways.
The special trains being resumed include the New Delhi-Kalka Shatabdi Express, New Delhi-Dehradun Shatabdi Express, New Delhi-Amritsar Junction Shatabdi Express, Delhi Junction-Kotdwara Shatabdi Express, Chandigarh-New Delhi Shatabdi Express, Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Jammu Tawi Duronto, Mata Vaishno Devi Katra-New Delhi Sri Shakti, Kalka-Shimla Express, Bilaspur Junction-New Delhi Express, Jammu Tawi-Yognagari Rishikesh Express, Lucknow-Prayagraj Sangam Express, Chhapra-Lucknow Junction Express and Farrukhabad-Chhapra Express.