Coronavirus effect: Railways cancels 84 more trains today; check out the list

Railways on Thursday cancelled 84 more trains, which will not operate between March 20 and March 31 in view of coronavirus and low occupancy. With this, the total number of cancelled trains due to the deadly virus outbreak has reached climbed to 183. The national transporter had cancelled around 99 trains on Wednesday night. The trains cancelled include Express, Jan Shatabdi, Superfast, Mail Express and Passenger trains.

All passengers having tickets in these trains are being informed about it individually, the Indian railways has informed. The railways has also diverted routes of as many as 34 trains on Thursday.

Check the list of cancelled trains here. You can also check updated list of the cancelled trains on mobile app National Train Enquiry System or NTES.

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The railway and airlines have been hit hard due to the pandemic outbreak in the country. The Indian Railways has informed the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture met on Wednesday that 63 per cent of tickets in the railways have been cancelled due to the coronavirus scare. The committee met to review the impact of coronavirus on the civil aviation sector and the Indian Railways.

Also read: 63% tickets cancelled in Indian Railways in March due to coronavirus

The Railways has been taken a series of proactive measures to stop the spread of coronavirus in the country. Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Commerce and Industry, yesterday reviewed the progress of preparedness of Railways to tackle the virus threat.

As part of the preventive measures, the railways has created quarantine facilities all over the Railway network for any eventuality, up-scaling the cleanliness and hygiene of all the trains. The ministry has also initiated cleanliness drive with regard to coaches, toilets, pantry cars and all passenger interface points.

The Railways minister also asked all stakeholders to avoid unnecessary crowding at railway stations in wake of COVID 19 spread. Railways authorities have also been advised to raise the price of platform ticket, as and when the need arises, to Rs 50 to avoid overcrowding. The railways has also formed a COVID-19 Rapid response team comprising six executive directors from the Railway Board to coordinate the efforts of Indian Railways across all the zones.

This team will coordinate all COVID-19 preparedness activities, under which one nodal officer from each zone will serve as point of contact for all COVID-19 preparedness measures. As per the latest official data, the number of COVID-19 cases has surged to 181 in India, including 25 foreigners. Total 15 patients have also been discharged so far. The country has reported three deaths so far.

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