Less than a month after resuming services, IRCTC cancels Tejas Express trains over low occupancy

Less than a month after resuming services of the Tejas Express trains, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has halted its operations due to low occupancy. The Lucknow-New Delhi-Lucknow and Ahmedabad-Mumbai Ahmedabad Tejas Express will remain cancelled from 23 and 24 November respectively, as per Times of India. “The management has decided to cancel all departures of IRCTC Tejas trains due to low occupancy levels resulting from coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic,” IRCTC said in a statement. The statement further read that the operations of the two trains will resume after assessing the occupancy level of other trains operating on theses routes, reports The Quint. “The trains will be cancelled due to low occupancy. The occupancy rate has been less than 25 percent. The trains have been cancelled till further notice," the government official told Mint. Another railway official told The Times of India that the occupancy in the train from Ahmedabad was less than 30 percent and the occupancy of trains from Mumbai was about only 35 percent. The impact of the move could result in further shift of passengers to airlines and roadways as passengers gravitate to safer options, as per Moneycontrol. IRCTC had restarted the operation of Tejas Express trains from 17 October, after a hiatus of seven months due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown, to cater to the need of the growing passenger demand, ahead of the festive season. The IRCTC had started the Lucknow-Delhi and the Ahmedabad-Mumbai services on 4 October, 2019 and 19 January, 2020, respectively. The Tejas Express is India’s first semi-high speed fully air-conditioned train run by IRCTC and is among the fastest trains in India. With inputs from agencies