BHUBANESWAR: More than one lakh tickets under East Coast Railway have been cancelled in the last six days. More and more people are refraining from travelling after restrictions were imposed on travel and visit to crowded places.
Praveen Kumar Singh and his family had planned a vacation to Mumbai after the examinations. A resident of the city, Singh has cancelled the group ticket after virus scare. Hundreds like Singh, who had planned their trips to Maharashtra cities like Pune, Mumbai and Nashik, and South India States where COVID-19 positive cases are on the rise, have started cancelling their tickets leading to a major drop in the number of passengers in long-distance trains.
“The cancellation is 67 per cent more compared to the corresponding period last year. The number of cancellations has gone up by 80 pc across Indian Railways,” said a railway spokesperson.The ECoR has cancelled 10 special trains running from various places in its jurisdiction due to cancellation of tickets. More number of trains are expected to be cancelled if the situation continues.
“We are conducting regular analysis of passenger ticket bookings. The decision on cancelling more trains will be taken as and when required,” the spokesperson said.As a precautionary hygienic measure, blankets and curtains have been removed from originating trains from ECoR depots at Bhubaneswar, Puri, Sambalpur and Visakhapatnam.
The Railways has advised passengers to get their own shawls and bed sheets while travelling if they like to do so to maintain personal hygiene. They may use the ones provided by railways or use their own bedroll as per their wish.
Temporary cancellation
Visakhapatnam-Secunderabad-Visaskhapatnam Special will be cancelled from Visakhapatnam on March 17, 24 and 31 and from Secunderabad on March 18, 25 and April 1.Visakhapatnam-Tirupati-Visakhapatnam Special will remain cancelled from Visakhapatnam on March 23 and 30 and from Tirupati on March 24 and 31.
Sambalpur-Banaswadi-Sambalpur Special train will be cancelled from Sambalpur on March 18 and 25 and from Banaswadi on March 19 and 26.Bhubaneswar-Secunderabad-Bhubaneswar Special will be cancelled from Bhubaneswar on March 19 and 26 and from Secunderabad on March 20 and 27.Puri-Santragachi-Puri Special will be cancelled from Puri on March 20 and 27 and from Santragachi on March 21
and 28.