Railways to run 200 special trains from October 15 given the festive season

Railway Board Chairman and CEO V K Yadav has said that the Railways is planning to introduce 200 special trains between October 15, 2020, and November 30, 2020, to cater to passengers travelling during the festive season.

Addressing a virtual press conference in New Delhi yesterday, Mr Yadav said, Ministry of Railways conducted meetings with the general managers of zones and instructed them to speak with local administrations and review the status of coronavirus. He said, they have been asked to give a report after which the number of trains to be introduced during the holiday season will be decided. Mr Yadav said as of now it is estimated that around 200 trains will be run.

Mr Yadav said that the occupancy of clone trains, which were introduced in routes with high demand is around 60 per cent. He said, Ministry of Railways has decided that wherever the clone train is filled, it will run another clone train on the same route to ensure that no passenger is waitlisted.

Regular trains have remained suspended indefinitely since March 22, 2020.

Railways started operations of 15 pairs of premium Rajdhani special trains connecting Delhi with different parts of the country on May 12, 2020, and 100 pairs of long-distance trains on June 1, 2020. It also started 80 trains additionally on September 12, 2020.