Indian Railways issues clarification, says no date fixed for resumption of all passenger trains

The railways had suspended all passengers trains in March last year following the national lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic and started operating some of them gradually.

The Indian Railways said on Saturday it has not fixed any date to restart all passenger trains amid reports that the national carrier is planning to resume all passengers train from April. The railways had suspended all passengers trains in March last year following the national lockdown to combat the coronavirus pandemic and started operating some of them gradually.

The Indian Railways said in a release that it is "being reiterated again that no such date has been fixed for resumption of all passenger trains operations” . (HT File)

“There have been a series of reports in the media about the resumption of full passenger train services from a given April date. Clarification is constantly being given to the media about it for the last few days. It is being reiterated again that no such date has been fixed for resumption of all passenger trains operations,” the Indian Railways said in a release.

“Railways has been increasing the number of train services in a graded manner. Already more than 65% of trains are running. More than 250 plus were added in January alone. More will be added gradually. All factors need to be taken care of and inputs of all stakeholders are to be factored in. All are requested to avoid speculation. Media and public will be duly informed as and when such a decision is taken,” it added.

The government had restated local train services in Mumbai for everyone from February 1 and were made available in three time slots: from the start of the day's services to 7am; 12:00pm to 4:00pm; and 9:00 pm to the end of the day.