Srinagar, May 31: Amid the prevailing Covid-19 situation in Jammu and Kashmir, the authorities on Monday extended the suspension of the train services on the 137-kilometre Banihal-Baramulla rail line till June 9. After witnessing normal operations for almost three months, 10 railway services were suspended on May 10 after Covid situation worsened.
The decision to continue suspension of train service comes at a time when the Valley is witnessing partial reopening of a strict Covid lockdown witnessed for the last more than one month.
Chief Area Manager (CAM), Northern Railways, Kashmir, Saqib Yousuf told the Greater Kashmir that as per an order issued the rail service will remain in suspension mode till June 9.
Earlier, railway service in the Valley had remained suspended for almost 11 months owing to the situation arising out of the first wave of Covid-19. The resumption of the service in February this year had brought cheer among travellers.
However, last month hundreds of passengers could be seen flouting the Covid-19 SOPs by not maintaining the social distance.
Pictures that became viral on social media showed how people were not following the guidelines while boarding and deboarding the trains. Many of the travellers could also be seen not wearing the face masks properly.
The unprecedented rush of passengers at the Srinagar railway station last month was so much that crowd control had become difficult.
The train in Kashmir had also remained suspended in 2019 for several months after the Government of India scrapped the 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.