No passenger train will ply from any railway station in the country from Saturday midnight to 10 pm on Sunday.
This announcement has been made by the Rail Ministry in view of the ‘Janta curfew’ announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
All mail and express trains will also stop services from 4 am on Sunday.
All suburban train services will be reduced to a bare minimum as well, Indian Railways informed.
As of now, the Indian Railways has cancelled 245 trains in order to restrict unnecessary travel due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Also read: Coronavirus: Modi calls for ‘Janta Curfew’ on March 22
All suburban train services in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Secunderabad will be reduced to a minimum level only to cater to essential travel requirements.
The number of services may be decided by the zonal railways as per the assessment of local conditions and requirements, according to the press statement.
All passenger trains originating between midnight March 21 to 10 pm March 22 are now cancelled.
The cancellation is expected to impact approximately 24 hours of service.
Passenger trains already running at 7 am on March 21 will be allowed to run to their destinations.
Train services that are empty could be cut out of service if required.
All long-distance mail express and intercity trains originating between 4 am and 10 pm on March 22 will remain cancelled.
Approximately 1300 services are expected to be impacted by the cancellation.
Adequate arrangements will be made to facilitate refund for passengers affected by train.
Waiting halls, waiting rooms and concourse will be open for passengers, without creating overcrowding conditions.
Zonal railways will be keeping a watch on the overcrowding of waiting passengers at major stations and have been instructed to arrange special trains if required.
Modi on Thursday called for a ‘Janta curfew’ from 7 am to 9 pm on March 22, saying no citizen, barring those in essential services in view of coronavirus pandemic.