Amid surge in Covid19 cases, the authorities ordered suspension of the train services on the 137-kilometre Banihal- Baramulla rail line from Tuesday to May 16.
“Railway authorities have decided to suspend all operation in the Valley and all train service between Banihal to Baramulla section and vice versa. The service will remain suspended from May 11 to May 16 in view of worsening of Covid-19 situation in Kashmir,” the order stated.
Earlier, the rail service in the Valley had remained suspended for almost 11 months between March 2020 and February 2021 owing to the situation arising out of Covid-19. The resumption of the service in February this year had brought cheer to the travellers.
On Monday, hundreds of passengers could be seen flouting the Covid-19 SOPs by not maintaining the social distance at the railway platforms.
Pictures that went viral on social media showed people flouting guidelines during boarding and de-boarding. Many of the travellers could also be seen not wearing facemask properly.
Chief Area Manager (CAM), Northern Railways, Kashmir, Saqib Yousuf told Greater Kashmir that the unprecedented rush of passengers at the Srinagar railway station on Monday made crowd control difficult. “The rush at Srinagar station was too much today. The decision on whether the suspension of service will continue beyond May 16, shall be taken on that date,” Yousuf said.
The train services in Kashmir had also remained suspended in 2019 for several months after the government of India scrapped special constitutional status of J&K.
Frequent suspension of train service has caused railways losses in crores. As per railway officials, during the days prior to Covid-19, 15 pairs of trains used to run over the railway line from Banihal to Baramulla and carry almost 30,000 commuters including students and government employees, except one day in a week.