No passenger train will originate from any railway station in the country from midnight to 10 pm on Sunday in view of the "Janta curfew" announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Indian Railways said on Friday. All mail and express trains will also stop services from 4 am on Sunday.
All suburban train services to be reduced to a bare minimum as well.
As of now, the Indian Railways has cancelled 245 trains in order to restrict unnecessary travel due to the coronavirus outbreak.
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.
Pitching for "social distancing", 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, should get out of their houses, and asserted that it will be a litmus test to show India's readiness to take on the coronavirus pandemic.
This experience will serve the nation well, he added.
"This Sunday, that is on March 22, all citizens must follow this curfew from 7 am until 9 pm. During this curfew, we shall neither leave our homes nor get onto the streets and refrain from roaming about in our societies or areas. Only those associated with emergency and essential services may leave their homes," he said.
(With PTI inputs)