Rlys suspends all passenger services from Mar 22 midnight to Mar 31 midnight

In an unprecedented move, the railways on Sunday announced the suspension of all its passenger services from March 22 midnight to March 31 midnight and said only goods trains will run during the said period. Suburban train services will also remain suspended till March 31 at midnight.

The railways had already trimmed down its services on Friday by canceling a majority of trains. However, it had allowed all trains that had already started the journey to continue. "No train except goods trains will run till 2400 hrs of March 31. However, a bare minimum of suburban services and the Kolkata Metro Rail service will continue to run till 2400 hours of March 22. Thereafter, these services will also be stopped till 2400 hours of March 31," a spokesperson of the Indian Railways said.

The national transporter said in continuation of the measures taken in view of the coronavirus outbreak, it was decided that all passenger train services, including premium trains, mail, and express trains, passenger trains, suburban trains, Kolkata Metro Rail, Konkan Railway, will be canceled till the midnight of March 31. The trains that had already commenced their journey prior to 4 am on March 22 will run-up to their respective destinations, the railways said, adding that adequate arrangements would be made for the passengers during the travel and at their destinations.

"To ensure the essential supplies in various parts of the country, movement of goods trains will continue," the Railway Ministry said in a statement. It added that passengers could claim a full refund for all trains canceled in this period till June 21.

"Adequate arrangements shall be made to facilitate a hassle-free refund to the passengers affected by train cancellations," the statement said. The death toll due to the novel coronavirus in the country rose to five on Sunday with the Union Health Ministry confirming the death of a second COVID-19 patient in Maharashtra. The number of confirmed coronavirus cases has increased to 324 in India.