NEW DELHI: In a pleasant development for millions of rail passengers, the Indian Railways may soon allow all passengers trains to resume services. However, no specific time frame has been given by the Rail Ministry in this regard.
“There is no such given date. The Indian Railways has been increasing the number of train services in a graded manner. Currently, there are more than 65 per cent of trains operational across the country. More than 250 were added in January alone. More trains will be added gradually,’’ the Rail Ministry said.
It added that all factors need to be taken care of and inputs of all stakeholders are to be factored in before taking a decision in this regard. In view of the festive season, the sources said that the Rail Ministry might allow more passenger trains to resume operations to meet the growing public demand during Holi.
Senior Railways officials have repeatedly said that they are constantly monitoring the situation in the country and a decision on resuming full-scale normal train services will be taken after discussion with all the concerned ministries in the government.
At present, Railways is operating only 65% of all mail or express trains. According to the Indian Railway, every month the number of trains is being increased by 100-200.
The services of Indian Railways were affected for a long time due to the coronavirus pandemic and the nationwide lockdown announced by the Centre. The Railways had been operating the passenger trains even during the COVID-19 pandemic times. In many sectors, the national transporter is running in low occupancy and still operating in public welfare.
The number of trains is constantly being increased in a graded manner. Keeping in view a range of factors as well as operational circumstances, full restoration of regular passenger train services, to pre-pandemic times, is to be considered, the Railway Ministry had said earlier.
It may be noted that the Railways had stopped the normal operations in March last year to stop the spread of covid-19 in the country.
