We're running more trains to meet rush on some routes: Railway Board chief

Odisha and Uttarakhand propose Covid-19 negative certificates from inbound train passengers

The Indian Railways is running extra trains to meet the increased pressure on certain routes. Officials said this passenger growth is most likely a seasonal phenomenon and that there is no evidence of any mass exodus yet. According to a Rail Ministry presentation, the trains are for destinations having high demand like Gorakhpur, Patna, Darbhanga, Varanasi, Guwahati, Barauni, Prayagraj, Bokaro, Ranchi and Lucknow.

Fears of a surge in outflow from urban areas had grown after the State governments started re-introducing stricter COVID-19 restrictions and night curfews. These concerns are rooted in the experience last year when the country was overnight pushed into Covid-19 lockdowns and business activities were shut. This had led to a massive exodus of workers from urban areas back to their native places due to lack of livelihood.

Mumbai, one of the worst Covid-19 hit regions of the country, is said to be witnessing such an increased outbound passenger demand. Responding to queries about the heavy rush at Railway stations, officials maintained that there is no such persistent situation. “There is a slight rush when a train is scheduled to leave, which is a completely normal phenomenon, barring that the stations are largely empty,” a Rail Ministry spokesperson said.

Demand and supply

Chairman Railway Board Suneet Sharma told Business Standard, “There is an average wait list of 120 to 125 and above in these trains bound for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.”

“These are popular routes and are the traditional areas of high density. There is always more than 100 per cent demand on these routes,” the Rail Ministry spokesperson added.

Assuaging concerns, Sharma said that there will be no shortage of trains and availability will be ramped up to meet any surge in demand. Presently, the Indian Railways is running total 1402 specials train services on an average per day.

In all, 5381 Suburban train services and 830 Passenger train services are also operational. Apart from this, 28 special trains are being operated as clones of trains with high demand. Sharma also said that there is no move right now to curtail any suburban train services in Covid-19 affected Mumbai.

Commenting on the passenger demand position from Mumbai, a Rail Ministry official said, “From March 29 to April 7, there were 168 trains that made 901 trips ferrying around 12.23 lakh passengers. The occupation in these trains stood at 90 per cent. For the coming 10 days, we will be running 177 trains that will make 929 trips and booking till now is of just 8.5 lakh passengers, which translates of 60 per cent occupancy. So, you may see that percentage occupancy is now lower for the coming 10 days,”

Covid-19 certificates

Responding to a question on the call for railway passengers to carry COVID-19 negative certificates, Sharma said, “This is an area of concern for the entire country. The number of people who are boarding a train at a particular station is very large, so at this point of time, we are not having any position right now.”

“But some State governments are requesting for COVID-19 negative certificates to be available with the passengers who are coming, some are insisting too. The Railways is focusing on the Standard Operating Procedure for travel, this covers social distancing, wearing of masks, not providing linin or food items...We have received communication requesting COVID-19 negative certification of passengers from Uttarakhand and Odisha state governments,” he added.