Railways ready to run 'Ganesh' special trains, awaiting Maharashtra's nod

Railways is set to run Ganapati Special Trains following social distancing norms amid the COVID-19 crisis, however, Maharashtra government is yet to give nod as the matter is under re-consideration.

In an official release, the Central Railway stated that in view of COVID-19 and the extraordinary situation prevailing as a consequence thereof Central Railway vide letter dated July 23, 2020, asked the state government on their views about running Ganapati Special Trains (special long-distance mail/express trains to Konkan Region within Maharashtra), the number and date from which to run these special trains.

Director, Disaster Management Unit, Maharashtra vide their letter dated August 7, 2020, informed that special trains may be scheduled to the Konkan Region for the Ganapati Festival in response to Central Railway's letter.

Accordingly, the Central Railway immediately scheduled the special trains and sent for Railway Board's approval.

Railway Board had instantly approved on August 9 the running of special trains subject to following the Standard Operations Procedure (SOP) of Ministry of Home Affairs and Inter-District travel norms of Maharashtra in the wake of the pandemic. However, the senior officials of the state government on the night of August 8 had asked to keep it on hold.

Since then Railways, both at the board and zonal level, are in continuous touch with the officials and awaiting their response.