BADARPUR JN

                           The following additional proactive measures have been taken by the Indian Railways in wake of COVID-19:

1.To discourage unnecessary travel and to prevent the vulnerable category of Senior Citizens from undertaking unnecessary travels, concessional booking of all tickets except Patients, students and Divyangjan category for Unreserved & Reserved segment are being suspended form 00:00 hrs of 20th March till further advisory.

2.As a precautionary measure and to discourage nonessential travel and overcrowding of trains, so far total 155 pairs of low occupancy trains are cancelled up to 31.03.20. NFR has also cancelled 16 pairs of trains with low occupancy(less than 30%). Trains are cancelled keeping in view the availability of alternate trains for passengers and ensuring that no passenger shall remain stranded. Full refund is being given to all the passengers whose train has been cancelled.

3.Indian Railways has also facilitated return of students stranded in Northern part of country due to sudden closure of Educational Institutions to their homes in Southern, North-Eastern and Eastern regions of India.

4.Advisories are being issued to passengers to avoid non-essential train journeys and to ensure that they do not have running fever while they are commencing the journey. At any point of journey if passenger feels that he is having fever, he can contact the Railway Staff for medical attention and further assistance.

5.To avoid unnecessary crowding at Railway Stations in wake of spread of COVID 19, it has been decided to raise the price of Platform Ticket wherever necessary. In NFR platform ticket prices of the following stations have been changed Rs. 50/- viz. Guwahati, Kamakhya, Dimapur, Lumding, Silchar, Rangiya, New Bongaigaon, Barpeta Road, Tinsukia, New Tinsukia, Dibrugarh Town, Dibrugarh, Simaluguri Jn., Mariani Jn., Jorhat Town and all station under Katihar division. Simmilarly price of platform tickets increased to Rs. 30/- in Agartala, Badarpur Jn., Bokajan, Chaparmukh Jn., Dharmanagar, Diphu, Hojai, Jagiroad, Karimganj Jn., Lanka and Sarupathar stations.

6.Regular Announcement are being done o­n PA System of Railway Stations & Trains to sensitize the public about various Do’s & Don’ts highlighting :

a)Keeping hands clean by frequent washing of hands;

b)Maintain social distance & covering the mouth while sneezing and coughing;

c)Precautions to be taken if o­ne has running fever-(don’t travel and report immediately to the Doctor);

d)Not spitting anywhere in the public place and Railway premises and

e)Avoid overcrowding & to ensure distancing between passengers in trains including local passenger trains.

WR Press Release No. 2020/04Mumbai, 25^th April, 2020

WR TO EXTEND 4 MORE TRIPS OF TWO PARCEL SPECIAL TRAINS BETWEEN

KARAMBELI – NEW GUWAHATI & PALANPUR – SALCHAPRA

Western Railway with its commitment to its customers continues to ensure supply of essential commodities to different parts of the country. As a unique initiative, WR has scheduled timetabled Parcel special trains during lockdown period to various parts of the country. In continuation to this, 4 more trips of two timetabled parcel special trains have been extended between Karambeli & New Guwahati and Palanpur &Salchapra. WR has also made available a dedicated Helpline No 9004490982 which is manned 24x7 byWR's commercial staff for any parcel booking related assistance. An email id has also been created for the same i.e cmicccg@gmail.com.

According to a press release issued by Shri Ravinder Bhakar-Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Rly, since 23^rd March to 24^th April, 2020 commodities such as fish, milk, agricultural produce & equipment, medicines, medical goods etc have been transported weighing almost 18000 tonnes earning more thanRs 5 crore, 52 lakh. Shri Bhakar stated that, 2 more trips each of twotimetabled parcel special trainswill run between Karambeli & New Guwahati and Palanpur &Salchapra. Details of these trains are as follows :-

●Karambeli – New Guwahati parcel special train (2 trips)

Train No 00903 Karambeli – New Guwahati parcel special will leave from Karambeli at 18.00 hrs o­n 26^th April, 2020 and reach New Guwahati at 10.30 hrs o­n 28^th April, 2020. Similarly, Train No 00904 New Guwahati - Karambeli parcel special train will leave New Guwahati at 05.00 hrs o­n 29^th April, 2020 to reach Karambeliat 22.00 hrs the next day. The train will halt at Bhusaval Jn, Khandwa, Itarsi Jn, Jabalpur, Katni, Satna, Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyay Jn, Patliputra, Sonpur, Katihar, New Jalpaiguri and New Bongaigaon stations in both directions.

●Palanpur – Salchapra parcel special train (2 trips)

Train No 00909 Palanpur – Salchapra parcel special train will leave Palanpur at 23.00 hrs o­n 26^thApril, 2020 and reach Salchapra at 05.30 hrs o­n 29^th April, 2020. Similarly, Train No 00910 Salchapra – Palanpur parcel special train will leave Salchapra at 22.00 hrs o­n 29^th April, 2020 to reach Palanpur at 06.20 hrs o­n2^nd May, 2020. The train will halt at Marwar, Ajmer, Phulera Jn, Jaipur, Yamuna Bridge Agra, Prayagraj Jn, Pt Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Jn, Patliputra, Sonpur, Katihar, New Jalpaiguri, New Bongaigaon, Changsari, New Guwahati, Lumding and Badarpur stations in both directions.

Shri Bhakar stated that since 23^rd March to 24^th April, 2020, sixteen milk special trains were run by Western Rly, with a load of more than 11000 tonnes and 100% utilization of the wagons generating revenue of above Rs 1.96 crore. Similarly, 84 Covid-19 special parcel trains were also run during this period to transport essential commodities, for which the revenue earned was Rs 2.79 crore. In addition to this, 4 indented rakes carrying 1864 tonnes were also run with 100% utilization generating revenue of more than Rs 77 lakh. He said that five parcel special trains left from WR for various parts of the country o­n 25^th April, 2020 viz. Mumbai Central – Firozpur, Okha – Bandra Terminus,Ahmedabad – Guwahati, Dadar – Bhuj and Kankaria – Fatuha.

Shri Bhakar stated that during the lockdown period from 22^nd March to 24^thApril, 2020, total 2195 rakes of goods trains have been used by WR to supply essential commodities amounting to 4.75 million tonnes. 4626 freight trains were interchanged with other railways, including 2321 trains handed over and 2305 trains taken over at different interchange points.  104 Millennium Parcel rakes of Parcel Vans/Railway Milk Tankers (RMTs) have been sent to different parts of the country to supply as per the demands of essential items such as milk powder, liquid milk and other general consumer goods. The total losses over Western Railway up to 24^th April, 2020 have been estimated as Rs 560.39 Cr (inclusive of suburban + non-suburban). Inspite of this, due to cancellation of tickets till now, Western Railway has ensured to refund Rs. 204.50 crore. It's worth mentioning that in this refund amount, Mumbai Division itself, has ensured refund of Rs. 99.67 crore. Till now, 32.31 lakh passengers have cancelled their tickets over entire Western Railway & have received their refund amount accordingly.

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