Railways to run 80 special trains from Sept 12, will add more where occupancy is high

The Indian Railways will deploy 80 special trains from September 12, in a bid to cater to demand which will be in addition to the 230 special trains that are currently operating, the railway ministry announced on Saturday.

The reservation for the special trains will begin from September 10, the ministry said. The government will also deploy ‘clone trains’ on routes where the occupancy is more depending on the waitlist for the trains.

“We will notify 80 new special trains or 40 pairs of trains that will start operations from September 12. The reservations will begin from September 10. This will run in addition to the 230 trains already in operation,” Railway board chairman and CEO VK Yadav said.

“Wherever there is demand for a particular train, wherever the waiting list is long, we will run a clone train ahead of the actual train, so that passengers can travel,” he added.

Yadav said the stoppages of the clone trains will be less than the special trains. “The idea is to have stoppages at major stations for clone trains to meet demands of people,” he said.

In July, the overall occupancy of the special trains stood at 75%. According to railway ministry data, only a fourth of these trains had an occupancy rate of 100%. Yadav said the occupancy of the trains has gone up to 80-85% now and about a dozen trains are low occupancy now.

Yadav said that the key factors in deciding the 80 new trains was the fact that there were many stations from where the migrant workers are going back to their workplaces from their hometowns. Railways is also coordinating with the state governments while deciding on the introduction of new trains, he added.

“Many of these trains are running in reverse direction of the Shramik Special trains. So, they are leaving their homes and going towards their workplaces. The occupancy of 12 trains is very less among the 230 trains, so we are running them, but will reduce the number of coaches. We are monitoring the occupancy of trains and will run more trains as per demand,” Yadav said.

He also said that the Railways will run trains whenever there is demand from states for exams. The railway ministry had said it will run special trains across states for students appearing for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEE) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) . The National Testing Agency (NTA) is conducting the NEET on September 13 and JEE from September 1 to September 6.

The announcement comes in the backdrop of the Unlock 4 plan announced by the Centre on August 29. While issuing “Unlock 4” guidelines, the ministry of home affairs (MHA) said the latest plan was aimed at reopening more economic activities outside containment zones and that it was issued after receiving feedback from states and Union Territories, and extensive consultations with the central ministries and departments.

Under the plan, metro services across India, except in Maharashtra, will resume in phases from September 7, with all becoming operational by September 12, according to the ministry for housing and urban affairs -- a move that will significantly increase public transport capacity across India, and especially Delhi, but also one that comes against the backdrop of a surge in cases in the country.

The Railways have currently suspended all regular passenger trains indefinitely. Regular trains have remained suspended since March 22. Earlier in June the ministry had said passenger trains, including express and suburban services that were earlier suspended till June 30, will not operate till August 12. The 15 pairs of premium Rajdhani trains connecting Delhi with different parts of the country, which began on May 12, and 100 pairs of long-distance trains, which began on June 1, will continue to function.

On August 11 the ministry had clarified that all regular trains will continue to remain suspended but additional special trains will be operated based on the requirement.

“This is to bring to the notice of all concerned that, as decided and informed earlier on as well, regular passenger and suburban train services will continue to remain suspended till further notice. It may be noted that 230 Special Trains, which are running at present, will continue to operate…The occupancy of special trains is being monitored on a regular basis. Additional special trains may be run based on the requirement. However, all other regular trains and suburban trains run before lockdown, will remain suspended for the time being,” the ministry had said.