Trains now running at 69% of pre-Covid levels: Railway Board Chairman

The Indian Railways is now running trains at 69 per cent of its pre-Covid-19 capacity. This inching up of rail utilisation is on back of rising demand with many passengers going back to their home towns to avoid extended lockdowns because of the resurgent Covid-19 pandemic.

A Rail Ministry presentation said 140 additional trains for destinations having high demand like Gorakhpur, Patna, Darbhanga, Varanasi, Guwahati, Manduadih, Barauni, Prayagraj, Bokaro, Ranchi, Lucknow, Kolkata, and Bhagalpur are being operated.

In all, 7824 trains are running on an average per day. The pre-Covid average was 11283. The maximum restoration is in the running of suburban trains with 5387 operating now compared to 5881 in the per-Covid period. The least restoration is in the passenger trains that are running at just 26 per cent of pre-Covid capacity. Only 947 passenger trains are operating on an average compared to 3634 earlier. These passenger trains mostly serve as a link between major junctions and small stations. They are also usually fully unreserved, allowing passengers to adopt them for daily commute.