The Southern Railways has cancelled eight special trains in the next two weeks due to low passenger occupancy amid the second wave of COVID-19. Four of these daily trains have been temporarily cancelled from May 15 to May 31, and the remaining four have been cancelled from May 16 to June 1. The cancelled trains are on the routes of Chennai to Alappuzha, Mangaluru to Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam to Karaikal, and Madurai to Punalur, back and forth. Here’s the list of cancelled special trains:
Daily trains temporarily cancelled on and from May 15, 2021 to May 31, 2021:
> Train No.02639: Dr MGR Chennai Central - Alappuzha special train
> Train No.06630: Mangalore Central - Thiruvananthapuram special train
> Train No.06188: Ernakulam Jn - Karaikal special Train
> Train No.06729: Madurai - Punalur special train
Pairing daily trains temporarily cancelled on and from May 16, 2021 to June 1, 2021:
> Train No.02640: Alappuzha - Dr MGR Chennai Central special train
> Train No.06629: Thiruvananthapuram - Mangalore Central special train
> Train No.06187: Karaikkal - Ernakulam Jn special train
> Train No.06730: Punalur - Madurai special train
A few days ago, Southern Railways had also temporarily cancelled several other special trains from May 8 to June 1, for the same reason of low passenger occupancy. The list of cancelled trains included unreserved MEMU (Mainline Electrical Multiple Units) express special trains and fully reserved daily special trains.
Temporary cancellation of Special trains #SRUpdates pic.twitter.com/b4selibn3l
— Southern Railway (@GMSRailway) May 14, 2021
Earlier in May, around 170 flights flying in and out of Hyderabad airport were cancelled between May 7 and May 11, due to passengers cancelling travel plans at the last minute due to changes in COVID-19 travel rules. At the time, the Delhi government had imposed certain travel restrictions on people coming from the Telugu states. Many flights were cancelled as a result, with passengers opting out of travel. The Telangana government had also announced new travel rules, which affected flights to other cities like Mumbai and Bengaluru as well. At the time, trains to Delhi also witnessed very few passengers, according to reports.