9 Trains from (GLGT)GOLAGHAT to (SZR)SARUPATHAR

                           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.

Shri Rajen Gohain, Minister of State of Railways today flagged off the 15629 / 15630 Nagaon Express from Nagaon station in presence of large gathering. The train will run between Silghat Town and Tambaram every week. Shri Rupak Sarmah, MLA/ Nagaon, Shri Sanjive Roy, General Manager / N.F. Railway, Shri Ram Bhadadur Rai, Divisional Railway Manager / Lumding Division alongwith other senior railway officials were present.

            Speaking o­n the occasion, Rajen Gohain said that people of four central Assam districts of Nagaon, Golaghat, Karbi Anglong and Sonitpur will now be able to travel to Chennai for medical treatment without going to Guwahati for catching trains. o­n the other hand, the train will help tourists coming from different parts of the country o­n a visit to Kaziranga National Park. Tourists can now get down at Jakhalabandha which is a short distance from the famous park. He informed that efforts are being made to remove all bottlenecks in railway operations. Four Manned Level Crossing gates in Hojai - Habaipur section will soon be replaced with Road Over Bridge / Limited Height Subway to improve punctuality and increase in safety aspects.

He also informed that Northeast is getting special attention for overall development of railway infrastructure. The entire BG route from Bongaigaon to Lumding has been sanctioned for doubling and doubling work of Lumding – Hojai section is almost complete. He assured the people that more trains will run from Nagaon to places like Mumbai and Delhi and after completion of the development work of Silghat Town, more long distance trains will start from Silghat Town station as well.