Howrah-New Delhi passenger train chugs out again

A passenger train chugged out of the Howrah station in West Bengal for Delhi on Tuesday evening after 51 days of shutdown of the Railways operation due to the coronavirus lockdown.

The special air-conditioned express left Howrah with more than 1,000 passengers in a partial restoration of passenger services that commenced from Tuesday, according to Railways sources.

The train, with coaches of Rajdhani Express, left for its destination at 5.05 pm, an Eastern Railway official said.

The Howrah-New Delhi train is among the handful of trains across the country that resumed operations from Tuesday.

Passengers, who booked the tickets online, started arriving at the station from noon.

"I have been stuck here for two months after having come to tour Bengal, said one of the passengers waiting outside the Howrah station. I am happy that finally I can go home to my family in Delhi. A woman, who came to visit her relatives here in mid-March for a week, ended up staying with them for nearly two months. She said she came to the station by noon, lest there be any last-minute hiccups.

Passengers had been asked to arrive at the station one- and-a-half hours before the scheduled departure for medical screening and other formalities like downloading the mandatory Aarogya Setu app for those who had not done it beforehand.

Tickets of the special train vanished within a few minutes of opening of the bookings on Monday, according to an IRCTC official.

All the available tickets, which were sold only online through the IRCTC, got sold out in less than 15 minutes after bookings started at 6 pm, the official said.

The trai, which will be run daily between Howrah and New Delhi, would charge Rajdhani Express fares, an ER official said.

There will be no pantry service in the train, but tea, coffee and snacks will be sold to the passengers, the IRCTC official said.

Blankets will not be provided to the passengers, while curtains along berths and at the windows have also been removed from these trains for preventing any possible contamination, the official said.

The busy Howrah railway station, always buzzing with the passengers in any normal day, wore a deserted look Tuesday with only a handful of security, health and Railways officials present at the station to facilitate journey of the passengers.