Indian Railways urges ‘vulnerable’ people to avoid travel; this is who needs to be careful

The Indian Railways has urged vulnerable people to avoid travel. The national transporter has asked people with co-morbidities, pregnant women, children below age of 10 and those aged above 65 to avoid travel by rail. The appeal came after outrage over deaths on various Shramik special trains. The Indian Railways has claimed that deaths of the passengers occurred due to pre-existing medical conditions.

"It has been observed that some people who are availing this service have pre-existing medical conditions which aggravates the risk they face during the COVID-19 pandemic. A few unfortunate cases of deaths related to pre-existing medical conditions while travelling have happened," it said in an public appeal.

“Ministry of Railways makes an appeal that persons with co-morbidities (for example - hypertension, diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases, cancer, immune deficiency conditions), pregnant women, children below the age of 10 years and persons above 86 years of age may avoid travel by rail, except when it is essential,” the statement added. 

Railways has assured passengers of their safety by adding a helpline number which will be operation 24x7. The Indian Railways sought the cooperation of all citizens in this matter.

In case of any distress or emergency please do not hesitate to reach out to your railway parivaar and we will help you as always, the Railways said.

Meanwhile, the Indian Railways has increased the advance reservation period from the present 30 days to 120 days for all special trains. To recall, the national transporter has started running 15 pairs of special trains since May 12 on Rajdhani routes and the 100 new pairs of special trains are scheduled to run from June 1.

"Ministry of Railways has decided to increase the advance reservation period (ARP) of all Specials notified from 30 days to 120 days. Booking of parcel and luggage shall be permitted in all these 230 trains,"  the railways said in a statement.