Nearly two months after the suspension of railway services, a special train departed at 10 am today from Bhubaneswar to New Delhi. The said train carried a total of 916 passengers in 22 coaches from the state capital.
As a safety measure, the East Coast Railway instructed passengers to carry their own food and linen and reach the station at least 90 minutes before the departure time so as to go through compulsory screening. All travellers are also required to cover their faces throughout the journey.
The Railway staff flagged off the Special Train with claps as it began its journey to New Delhi. As per a railway official, the train is scheduled to halt at Bhadrak, Balasore, Kharagpur, Tatanagar Jn, Bokaro, Gomoh Jn , Gaya, PT. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Junction and Kanpur Central.
Notably, the tickets for the train were sold out within 30 minutes after bookings commenced on the IRCTC website.
“We had taken special precaution of following Social Distancing norm and sanitization while boarding the passengers on Train, Passengers were asked to reach to Station 90 minutes in Advance for Medical screening procedure,” said Ashok Kumar, Additional DRM East Coast Railway Khorda Division.