17 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

Hindu Business Line, 3/18/20:

 

 

  Covid-19 person travels in Delhi-Ramagundum train; passengers alerted 

 

 

The Telangana government has issued an alert for those who travelled by Samparkranthi Express (Train no: 12708) on March 13, 2020.

 

Story here.

[KevinKorell]

Financial Express, 3/21/20:

 

  Relief for passengers! Indian Railways relaxes refund rules for PRS counter generated train tickets 

 

 

This relaxation which will be provided by Indian Railways on ticket refund is for those train journeys from the period of March 21, 2020 - June 21 2020.

 

Full story

[CNJRoss]

IRJ 3/23/20
 

India shuts down passenger rail network until March 31

 

ALL passenger rail services operated by Indian Railways and Konkan Railway ceased operation at midnight on March 22.

 

 

Metro services have also been suspended in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Lucknow, Kolkata, Mumbai and Nagpur. However, Kochi Metro is continuing to operate but with a reduced level of service.

 

The shutdown, which is designed to halt the spread of the coronavirus, will remain in force until midnight on March 31.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

AP 3/24/20
 

India halts its crucial train network to try to stop virus

 

A railway employee locks the door of a suburban train in Mumbai, India, Monday, March. 23, 2020. As India expanded its virus-containment measures and halted its lifeblood - the local and national train network, the federal government warned Monday of strict legal action for those who flout the rules. For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms. For some it can cause more severe illness. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

 

NEW DELHI (AP) — As India expanded its virus-containment measures and halted its train network, the country’s lifeblood, the federal government warned Monday of strict legal action for those who flout the rules.

 

The wholesale shutdown of India’s massive train system is unprecedented.

 

“Please save yourself, save your family,” Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted in Hindi, calling for states to follow the preventive measures issued by the federal government to contain the spread of the virus.

 

The strict legal action vowed wasn’t immediately clear. Other places have simply sent violators home, since alternatives like detention would create crowded conditions where the virus could spread.

 

Continue here w/photo album.

[KevinKorell]

Times of India, 3/26/20:

 

  167 who were in train with Covid patient identified  

 

 

 

 

Jaipur: A list of 167 persons, including 160 co-passengers of a Covid-19 patient and seven railway staff boarded on the train, were received by the health department on Wednesday ....

 

 

Story

[CNJRoss]

CNN 4/6/20
 

India has closed its railways for the first time in 167 years. Now trains are being turned into hospitals

 

 

Bangalore, India (CNN)When Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a nationwide lockdown on March 25, Indian Railways took the unprecedented move of suspending passenger trains across the country until April 14.

 

It was the first time in 167 years that Asia's oldest rail network had been suspended.

 

Now the railway network has decided to convert as many as 20,000 old train carriages into isolation wards for patients as the virus spreads.

 

This handout photograph from Indian Railways show how old trains will be used as Covid-19 isolation ward

 

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

Washington, DC Post, via MSN, 4/15/20:

 

   At a station with no trains, locked-down strangers wait weeks with no way out  

 

 

 

The main train station in the north Indian city of Varanasi is a sprawling building that has witnessed its share of delays over more than a century of rail travel. Sometimes the waits are long, and sometimes they are pleasantly short. But it has never seen anything like this.

 

Article

[CNJRoss]

The Print, New Delhi, India 5/16/20
 

A train of afterthoughts: How Indian Railways itself became the story in a lockdown

 

The journey of railways through Covid-19 symbolises India’s response to the crisis: starting on a high note of hope, but soon giving way to panic and despair.

 

 

At the time of the 21^stcentury’s first pandemic, when most public transport is suspended across the world, in India, the largest public transport network and the biggest employer of the country – the mighty Indian Railways – has itself become the story. The journey of the Indian Railways through Covid-19 symbolises India’s response to the crisis: starting on a high note of hope and resolve, but soon giving way to panic and despair as the deep fault lines began to surface.

 

From the cruelty of making income-starved migrants pay for tickets to ferrying lakhs of them to the safety of their homes; from the heart-rending news of a train running over 16 migrants as they slept in exhaustion on railway tracks to giving hope of some semblance of normalcy by starting select passenger trains for the first time in almost 50 days – with its contradictions and flip-flops, the Indian Railways has at once been the source of both hope and anguish for millions of Indians.

 

And that is why, it is ThePrint’s Newsmaker of the Week.

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

NDTV, New Delhi, India 5/21/20
 

 

 

Railways To Run 200 Non-AC Trains Daily From June 1, Online Bookings Soon

 

Indian Railways: In a tweet on Tuesday, the Railways said, "Apart from these Shramik Special trains, Indian Railways is going to run 200 additional time table trains daily from June 1."

 

 

New Delhi:  Passenger train service will expand from the existing 15 trains to more than 200 starting next month. The service will involve non-air conditioned trains, which had not been allowed so far. The 15 trains that have been running since May 12, are air-conditioned trains and the passengers are required to maintain rules of social distancing and use masks and sanitisers.

 

In a tweet on Tuesday, the Indian Railways said apart from the Shramik Special trains, it would run "200 additional timetable trains daily from June 1, which will be non-air conditioned second class trains and booking of these trains will be available online".

 

Continue here.

[CNJRoss]

Railway Gazette International, 7/30/20
 

Indian Railways unveils ‘post-Covid coach’

 

 

 

INDIA: The Rail Coach Factory in Kapurthala has rolled out its first ‘post-Covid coach’, incorporating what Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal said were ‘significant design improvements for post-Covid travel’

 

The vehicle incorporates a range of ‘hands-free’ features including forearm-operated compartment door handles, and foot-operated toilet door latches, taps, soap dispensers and flushing systems.

 

Continue here w/photo album.