Covid-19: Indian Railways extends suspension of services till May 3

Soon after PM Narendra Modi extended the national lockdown till May 3 to contain the spread of coronavirus outbreak, the Indian Railways also decided to keep passenger trains till then.

The railway ministry in a statement said, "In continuation of the measures taken in the wake of Covid-19 lockdown, it has been decided that all passenger train services of Indian Railways including premium trains, mail and express trains, passenger trains, suburban trains, Kolkata Metro Rail, Konkan Railway etc shall continue to remain cancelled till May 3."

However, to ensure the supply of essential commodities to reach various parts of the country -- movement of goods and greight trains will continue.

Pointing out towards the rules of cancellation of all passenger train tickets Rajesh Dutt Bajpai Executive Director (I&P), Ministry of Railways said, "all counters for booking of rail journey tickets for reserved or unreserved travel at railway stations and outside railway station premises shall remain closed up to May 3."

Earlier, the railways had also ordered the closure of all rail museums, heritage galleries and heritage parks as a preventive measure to control the spread of the deadly virus.

In a historic step, the railways earlier suspended the services of over 13,600 passenger, mail and express trains as a measure to stop the spread of Covid-19 between March 24 and April 14.

So far, India has reported 10,363 Covid-19 cases. Out of the total, 1036 have been cured and 339 have died due to the infection.