Railways plans to run 2,600 trains in next 10 days

Railway Board on Saturday said that there are plans to run 2,600 trains in the next ten days to carry passengers to their destinations.

Addressing a press conference here, Railway Board Chairman Vinod Kumar Yadav said that more than 45 lakh passengers have already travelled since the resumption of train services in the lockdown period and rules related to physical distance were followed at every station.

"An average of 260 passenger trains were run in the last four days. There are plans to run 2,600 trains in the next 10 days and we will be able to take 36 lakh more people to their destinations," Yadav said at a press conference.

He said that if they get any requirement from a state government authority, they were prepared to run trains within the state.

He mentioned that 5,000 coaches were converted into COVID-care centre and 50 per cent of these coaches have been used for Shramik special trains.

"We had converted 5,000 coaches into COVID care centres, with 80,000 beds. Since some of these were not being used right now, we used 50 per cent of these coaches for Shramik special trains. If needed, they will be used again for COVID care," Yadav said.

The lockdown, with prescribed relaxations, has been extended till May 31 to contain the spread of the coronavirus in the country.

India has so far recorded 1,25,101 COVID-19 cases out of which 69,597 are active cases.

( With inputs from ANI )