Nagpur: With the Railway Board & CEO, VK Yadav, planning to introduce 200 more trains between October 15 and November 30 during the festive season, Nagpur Central Railway has proposed to run special trains to Mumbai and Pune to cater to the passenger rush.
According to railway sources, the list of express trains that have been proposed to operate includes Gondia-CSMT Vidarbha, Nagpur-CSMT Sevagram, Nagpur-Pune, Bilaspur-Pune, & Pune Garib Rath, Mumbai Duronto, Gondia-Kolhapur Maharashtra and Nagpur-Madgaon. The earlier proposed Duronto Express has been dropped. These passenger trains are among 34 proposed to be run from October 10 and 15.
Central...
more... Railway officials were shy of making any statement. тАЬIt is for sure that some trains will start as after Unlock 5 the Maharashtra government has given a go-ahead to restart train operations within the state but how many of these trains will actually run depend on the flow of passengers. The train to Pune and Mumbai is expected next week,тАЭ said officials who did want to be quoted.
Presently, though there are passing trains in every direction, there is no train to Pune and direct train to Mumbai from Nagpur. Passengers are dependent on tri-weekly Howrah-Mumbai Express. For Pune, passengers are dependent on MSRTC buses. Private bus operators too are reluctant to start full-fledged operations owing to restriction of 50% capacity due to Covid-19.
Indian Railways had suspended all regular passenger, mail and express trains indefinitely from March 25 in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
After Unlock 4, the Indian Railways geared up to boost passenger traffic across the country. Of the existing 230 trains it operated since June, 80 more trains were added to the fleet in September followed by 20 clone trains.
Sources said, тАЬOn an average, there is 60% occupancy in these trains and Railway Board wants the trains should be started considering demand with local administration and the status of Covid-19. The Central Railway zonal headquarters after discussions will take a final call.тАЭ
South East Central Railway (SECR) CPRO Saket Ranjan said, тАЬWe are working out on which trains to be started. We will compare the footfall last year and accordingly decide how many trains can be introduced during the holiday season.тАЭ