Even Wars Could Not Stop the Indian Railways Passenger Service, But COVID-19 Did

Despite the country-wide lockdown declared by the Union and the state governments &ndash one of the best preventive measures to contain the spread of the Covid-19 virus &ndash many people are ignoring the warning and refusing to stay at home or crowding public places. Some people, either suspected to have contracted the virus or directly affected by it, are even freely roaming around, endangering the lives of hundreds of others.

To make people realise the seriousness of the situation, the Indian Railways has come up with a very pertinent message. Recently it tweeted in Hindi, which (translated) reads that even during the wars, the Indian Railways never stopped running, so stay at home, indicating that the current situation is more serious than a country faced with a war.

To emphasise on the urgency to stay at home, it focused on the popular board game of Ludo.

The Indian Railways suspended all its passenger services from March 22 initially the ban was until March 31, which has been extended till April 14. Prior to the total ban, it had started cancelling selective passenger trains, express and intercity trains. The lifeline of Mumbai, the suburban trains, stopped running from March 20. The railways have already informed passengers about the facilities being offered for cancellation of tickets, refunds, etc.

Although passenger trains have been halted, the department has joined the fight against novel coronavirus, through various avenues.

The railways have continued with their cargo services to ensure essential services, especially supply of milk and food grains, are not interrupted.

The Railways, in consultation with its Production Units and Zonal Railway Workshops, has decided to use its manufacturing facilities &ndash Chittaranjan Loco Works (Chittaranjan), Integral Coach Factory (Chennai), Rail Coach Factory (Kapurthala), etc. &ndash to manufacture essential items which can be utilized for the treatment of people affected by this pandemic.

Indian Railways has identified the new hostel building of Mumbai-Ahmedabad high-speed rail project training institute in Vadodara, for creating a backup quarantine centre.

According to media reports, the railways is also contemplating transforming its coaches into quarantine centres to ensure the state governments do not run out of facilities.