Kolkata/Guwahati: The Eastern and South Eastern Railway have cancelled all mail/express trains originating from the two zones between 4 am and 10 pm Sunday in view of ‘Janata Curfew’ for prevention of COVID-19 spread, but will run skeletal local train services on the day, officials said Saturday.
An SER official said that all passenger trains originating within its jurisdiction between midnight Saturday and 10 pm Sunday will also remain cancelled.
However, 32 EMU local trains in Howrah-Midnapur, Howrah-Amta, Panskur-Haldia and Panskura-Digha suburban section will run as bare minimum essential service, SER spokesman Sanjay Ghosh said.
An Eastern Railway spokesman said that all mail/express and intercity trains originating between 4am and 10pm Sunday will remain cancelled owing to the ‘Janata Curfew’.
All passenger trains, including conventional MEMU and DEMU, in Eastern Railway, originating between Saturday midnight and 10 pm on Sunday will also remain cancelled, ER spokesman Nikhil Chakraborty said.
However, the passenger trains already running at 7am Sunday will be allowed to reach their destinations, he said.
Chakraborty said that 341 suburban trains will run Howrah division and 500 local trains will run Sealdah division Sunday.
However, considering the situation and inflow of passengers, the number of cancellations and running of EMU local trains may be modified corresponding to requirement and demand of the situation, he said.
The Metro Railway will run 54 trains Sunday, instead of the normal 124 services, its spokesperson Indrani Banerjee said. These trains will run at 30-minute interval, she said. Instead of 50 services, the East West Metro will run 34 services, Banerjee said.
Meanwhile, North East Frontier Railways Saturday announced that several long-distance, local and Intercity trains will remain cancelled on Sunday during the ‘Janata Curfew’ from 7am to 9pm.
NF Railway spokesperson Subhanan Chanda said that local passenger trains originating between Saturday midnight and 10pm Sunday will remain cancelled All long-distance mail and express trains along with intercity trains originating between 4am and 10pm on Sunday will also remain cancelled.
However, trains already on the run at 7am Sunday will continue their journey to their respective destinations. Trains with low occupancy have already been cancelled, he said.
Cancellations of trains are expected to restrict the spread of the virus, Chanda said. NF Railway is taking all precautionary steps to discourage people from going on non-essential journeys and concessional tickets for senior citizens have been also cancelled, he said.
NF Railway is also encouraging social distancing for the safety of passengers and also to restrict the spread of the virus, Chanda added.
PTI