Passenger train services to remain suspended; regular suburban trains to continue

The Indian Railways on Tuesday said that passenger and suburban train services will continue to remain suspended till further notice.  "As decided and informed earlier on as well, regular passenger and suburban train services will continue to remain suspended till further notice," it added.

The Ministry of Railways also said that 230 special trains, which are currently running, will continue to operate. "Local trains in Mumbai, which are presently being run on limited basis only on the requisition of the state government, will also continue to run," the statement said.

The occupancy of special trains is being monitored on a regular basis and additional special trains may be run based on the requirement. However, all other regular trains and suburban trains running before lockdown, will remain suspended for the time being.

On Monday, the Indian Railways had said that no new circular has been issued on the suspension of train services until September 30 amid concerns around coronavirus pandemic.

"Some section of media is reporting that Railways has cancelled all regular trains till 30th September. This is not correct. No new circular has been issued by Ministry of Railways," Ministry of Railways tweeted. In the tweet, the Railways had also said that Special Mail Express trains shall continue to run.

Meanwhile, last month, Railways had said that it may post a revenue loss of Rs 30,000-35,000 crore from the passenger train segment in FY21. The Railways may record just 10-15 per cent of the passenger segment revenue in the ongoing fiscal as against Rs 50,000 crore last year, Railway board chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav had said. The performance of the national transporter may be negatively impacted owing to restrictions on movement amid ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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