Coronavirus Outbreak: Indian Railways issues 'restoration plan' to prepare for resumption of services from 15 April after 21-day suspension

New Delhi: Railways has begun preparing to resume all its services from 15 April after a 21-day suspension of its passenger trains in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak. Sources said all railway safety personnel, running staff, guards, TTE and other officials have been told to be ready to join their posts from 15 April. Click here to follow LIVE updates on Coronavirus Outbreak Trains, however, will begin operations only after a green signal from the government which had formed a Group of Ministers (GoM) on the issue. [caption id=“attachment_3033302” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Indian Railways. Representational image. AFP[/caption] Meanwhile, the railways have issued a “restoration plan” to all its railway zones with a schedule of trains to be run, their frequency and the availability of rakes. All 17 zones have been sent a missive to be prepared to run their respective services, the source said. Around 80 percent trains are expected to run as per schedule from 15 April which includes Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto trains. Local trains too are likely to begin operations. Sources say the railways is likely to also conduct thermal screening on all passengers and follow all protocols as advised by the government. Senior officials, however, said no fresh orders have been issued and since cancellations were only up to 14 April “no fresh orders required for starting with effect from 15 April.” Sources said a concrete action plan will be sent to the zones later this week. In an unprecedented move, the railways had suspended the services of 13,523 trains for 21 days after the lockdown was announced by the Prime Minister on 24 March. Its freight trains, however, continued to run during this period.