Southern Railway extends cancellation of passenger train services till midnight of Apr 14

The Southern Railway on Wednesday announced extension of the cancellation of passenger train services and closure of ticket counters in the wake of a three-week lockdown announced by the Centre to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The Southern Railway, in a press release, announced the cancellation of all types of passenger train services include mails, express trains, passenger trains and suburban trains, in the Chennai region till the midnight of April 14.

The measures are taken in view of the Ministry of Home Affairs' guidelines and in continuation of the initiatives that were already taken for containment of the COVID-19 in the country, the release said.

While freight trains will continue to operate, booking of all types of tickets for journey period of up to 24 hours of April 14 is suspended, it said.

It will be applicable for reserved and unreserved tickets both at railway counters and also at the IRCTC website, the release added.

The Tamil Nadu government has announced a lockdown from March 24-31 as part of its efforts to control the spread of the coronavirus.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a televised address on Tuesday announced a nationwide lockdown for three weeks with effect from the midnight.