Amid a spike in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases, the sale of platform tickets will be stopped at major railway stations in Delhi, the divisional railway manager (DRM) announced on Twitter. This is being done with an aim to control the entry of passengers at platforms and premises of the stations, the DRM said.
“Due to surge in Covid-19 cases, Delhi Division of Northern Railway has decided to stop the sale of platform tickets with immediate effect till further orders to regulate the entry of passengers at platforms and station premises,” DRM Delhi zone tweeted.
These railway stations will include New Delhi railways station, Old Delhi railway station, Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station, Anand Vihar Terminal station, among others.
{{/usCountry}}These railway stations will include New Delhi railways station, Old Delhi railway station, Hazrat Nizamuddin railway station, Anand Vihar Terminal station, among others.
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Additionally, the Northern Railway zone will also deploy four additional special trains from New Delhi to Bihar over the next three days with the aim to ease travel for migrants who are seeking to head back to their home states after the announcement of a six-day lockdown in Delhi. As the national capital has been witnessing an exponential rise in coronavirus cases with its biggest daily jump in Covid-19 tally of 25,462 fresh cases recorded on Sunday, the Delhi government imposed a curfew from 10pm Monday till 5am on April 26.
The railway ministry also said on Monday that there was no crowding at stations in Delhi after the announcement of the week-long curfew in New Delhi, reiterating that trains will continue to run even during the curfew.
The national carrier has planned 69 additional ‘summer special trains’ and till April 30, it has planned 133 additional trains with 88 ‘summer specials’ and 45 ‘festival special’ trains.
After the coronavirus- induced nationwide lockdown which was imposed in March last year, Railways had suspended regular train services to control the spread of the virus although regular freight train movement continued. While regular operation of trains has not resumed completely as it were during pre-Covid times, the railways has restored passenger train operations in a phased manner.