New rlys timetable likely to see cut in halts and trains
Dipak.Dash@timesgroup.com
New Delhi: 05.07.2020
Train operations are unlikely to be what they were before the pandemic with the Indian Railways preparing a ‘zerobased’ time-table for all trains. This means the schedule and frequency of all earlier time-tabled passenger trains will be rewritten giving the railways flexibility to reduce the number of halts of mail/express trains and some other trains as well, sources said.
Railway board chairman, V K Yadav had told reporters early this week that the plan to roll this out has been delayed due to the pandemic, but this will be implemented.
Sources said in some cases stoppages of express/ mail trains would be done away with after assessing the number of passengers boarding and de-boarding at these stations. “It would also be easier to stop the services of some trains that run once or twice a week. Many halts were approved in the past due to political considerations. In recent years, this approach has changed,” said an official.
Each zone is working on this plan. The reduction in number of halts is expected to result in reducing the travel time as trains can run nonstop for longer distances. The railway board chief had said the 151 trains to be operated by the private players will also be part of the zerobased time-table trains.
There are indications that railways would run more trains on routes including Delhi-Amritsar, Delhi-Gorakhpur, Lucknow-Delhi, Indore-Delhi, Mumbai-Ghazipur. All these trains will have the “Special” tag.
Before the Covid crisis hit the country, railways used to run around 11,000 passenger trains daily.
Meanwhile, some of the railway officials told TOI that the railway ministry should take care while deciding the timing of the trains by private operators.
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