Indian Railways requests passengers to update themselves with COVID-19 guidelines issued by different states

Recently, some states have made COVID-19 RT-PCR test mandatory for passengers within 72 to 96 hours of train arrivals.

Indian Railways passengers, attention! In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, Piyush Goyal chaired Railway Ministry has requested passengers to update themselves with the latest guidelines issued by different state governments before the commencement of their train journey. The ministry has urged the passengers to check and read state-issued covid protocols before travelling as every state has its own specific sets of guidelines. Recently, some states have made COVID-19 RT-PCR test mandatory for passengers within 72 to 96 hours of train arrivals. According to the ministry, this initiative has been taken to avoid confusion and hardships for travellers.

Last week, West Bengal made it mandatory for those arriving in the state by train to carry their COVID-19 negative RT-PCR report with them. The same announcement was also made by the national transporter on Thursday citing an order from the chief secretary of West Bengal. The state of West Bengal is the latest to join various other Indian states which have already made it mandatory to carry COVID-19 negative RT-PCR tests to enter the state. An order was issued by the West Bengal government’s Chief Secretary, stating that incoming passengers by long distance train services and inter-state buses must carry their negative RT-PCR test reports of COVID-19.

Meanwhile, keeping in view the surge in covid cases, several special train services have been cancelled by the Railway Ministry. Since last year, several special train services have been running across the Indian Railways network because of the COVID-19 pandemic, as all passenger trains were suspended by the ministry following the nationwide covid-induced lockdown. The ministry had stated that some of these special trains were running with low occupancy. Therefore, some of the special train services are being discontinued till further advice due to low occupancy as well as other operational reasons. Some Indian Railways’ zones like Eastern Railways, Northern Railways have already announced the cancellation of several special trains.