With passenger trains stopped, Railways focuses on freight services

New Delhi: With the suspension of passenger, mail and express train services, the Indian Railways is focusing on speeding up transportation of essential commodities across the country.

"The Indian Railways never stopped even during the war. Please understand the seriousness of the circumstance. Stay at home," the Ministry tweeted on Tuesday night.

Rajesh Dutt Bajpai, Executive Director, Ministry of Railways, said, around 9,000 freight trains were being run daily. "The Indian Railways is making all efforts to ensure availability of essential commodities, and uninterrupted freight services are being run despite of various restrictions due to Covid-19," he said.

Of the 891 rakes loaded by the national transporter on March 23, Bajpai said, 474 were for essential commodities, like grain, salt, edible oil, sugar, milk, fruits & vegetables, onion, coal and petroleum products. The rest 121 rakes were used for transporting iron ore, 48 for steel, 25 for cement, 28 for fertilizer and 106 rakes for containers, he added.

On Sunday, the Railway announced suspension of passenger, mail and express trains --around 13,600 -- from Monday to March 31.

The Railway Ministry in a statement said during the lockdown in various states, railway employees, deployed at various goods sheds, stations and control offices, would continue to work 24X7 to ensure supply of essential items.

The Ministry said it was working in close coordination with the state governments for smooth handling of rakes of essential commodities without any delay, amidst various restriction imposed in the wake of Covid-19.

"Railways has slashed the demurrage and wharfage rates for goods and parcels by half of the prescribed rates till March 31," it said.