Central Railway cancels 30 outstation trains till April 1 amid coronavirus outbreak
The Central Railway has cancelled 30 more outstation trains till April 1, citing low occupancy due to the coronavirus outbreak, an official said on Thursday. These trains are cancelled mainly due to low occupancy, as people have been advised to avoid non-essential travel during the pandemic, a Central Railway spokesperson said. The decision was taken based on the Railway Board's directive, he added. Several trains starting from Mumbai and other cities in the state have been cancelled, but none of them are popular and were operated only twice or thrice a week, he said.
Earlier this week, the Central Railway had cancelled 32 trains, which included some popular ones and those that are
operated weekly.
Meanwhile, the Indian Railways announced that it has decided to not charge a cancellation fee for 155 trains cancelled, which will not operate between March 20 and March 31, in view of low occupancy and the novel coronavirus pandemic. Train passengers will get 100% refund for these cancelled trains, PTI reported.
The novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 169 on Thursday after 18 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, according to the Health Ministry.
The cases include 25 foreign nationals -- 17 from Italy, 3 from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each belonging to Canada, Indonesia and Singapore. The figure also includes three deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra so far.
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