The nationwide lockdown due to the spread of COVID-19 in India has greatly affected the travel sector with absolutely zero movement. However, the air is that Indian Railways is considering to resume partial passenger services to help people with emergency situation travels.
As per reports doing the rounds in the media, a close source of Indian Railways has mentioned that a proposal to start a few special trains with higher ticket prices have been put forward. But the travel service shall only be available for the people really in need.
In case the proposal is accepted, Indian Railways will begin with only a sleeper train, no AC trains will be started right-off. Also, individuals having a confirmed ticket will only be allowed to travel.
In order to ensure safety & restrict the further spread of the virus among people travelling in these trains, the Indian Railways is planning to avoid any halts at zones that are considered as hotspots or are contaminated zones. If the proposal is accepted, the trains shall only run between the green zones & stations that fall under these green zones.
Another proposal that has been put forth in front of the Indian Railways is putting the coaches that were converted to isolation cells. Previously, the Indian Railways had converted around 20,000 coaches to isolation wards by removing the middle-berths.
Now, as such number of wards isn’t needed, they can be used as sleeper coaches. This will help the railways to get things going easily while maintaining social distancing between the passengers.