Platform ticket rate raised to prevent spread of coronavirus: Northern Railway

The rates of platform tickets have been raised to Rs 50 at some 'A1 and A' class stations of Firozpur division in view of COVID-19 pandemic, said the Northern Railway in a statement.

"In order to prevent the rapid spread of coronavirus infection, Divisional Railway Manager Rajesh Agarwal has temporarily increased the rate of platform tickets from Rs 10 to Rs 50 with immediate effect from March 19 to April 30 on all A1 and A class stations of Firozpur Division," said the statement.

These stations are Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra, Amritsar, Ludhiana, Jammu Tawi, Jalandhar City, Udhampur, Pathankot, Pathankot Cantt, Jalandhar Cantt, Phagwara, Beas, and Firozpur Cantonment.

The Northern Railway further informed that train services to and from Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Pathankot (from March 18 to March 30), New Delhi-Firozpur Cantt (from March 20 to March 29), Jabalpur-Atari (from March 21 to April 1) will remain suspended as occupancy in these trains has come down.

The Ministry of Health on Wednesday said that the number of positive cases of coronavirus has climbed to 151, including 25 foreign nationals.

Globally, the virus has infected nearly 1,85,000 people and killed more than 7500, as per the latest data available on the World Health Organisation website.