New Delhi: As Unlock 4 has begun, the Ministry of Railways is consulting with various states to run more special trains amid COVID-19 outbreak and also waiting for the nod of Ministry of Home Affairs.
A Railway official said ETV Bharat, Railways is considering to run around 100 more trains for which the timings and routes are yet to be finalised. All these trains will be run under the category of "Special trains" amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.
"We are planning to run more trains for which discussions are being held with various states. A green signal is required from the Home Ministry as well and we are still planning over the routes and timings of these trains. Soon, it will be announced," he said.
Railways is also preparing a new zero-based timetable, which will be released in the next couple of months.
It has been said that the timings of these Special Trains will be finalized as per the new timetable.
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Currently, Indian Railways is running 230 Special Trains, which includes 15 pairs of Special Air Conditioned trains and 100 pairs of time-tabled trains.
The Union Home Ministry has also eased the guidelines of Unlock 4 as the Metro Rail services are going to be resumed from September 7.
In view of the spread of coronavirus, Railways is likely to discontinue its service of offering blankets, pillows and sheets.
Earlier this week, this proposal was made during a high-level meeting of Railway Board with its Zonal Railways officers. However, a notification is yet to be issued by the Railway Ministry.
In Railways, there are around 18 lakh linen sets in circulation at present, for which Rs 40-50 is being spent to wash one set. While on the other hand, blankets offered to the passengers in trains remain in service for about 48 months.
Currently, Railways is not providing blankets and linen sets to the passengers. A committee may also form by Railway Board to discuss mechanized mega laundries to wash linen sets under Build-Operate-Own-Transfer model.
