The Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has announced that it will scrap the Lucknow-Delhi and Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express train service citing “low occupancy levels” due to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to media reports.
In a statement on Monday, the Railway PSU said, “The management has decided to cancel all departures of IRCTC Tejas trains due to low occupancy levels resulting from coronavirus(Covid-19) pandemic.” It further said that IRCTC will review its decision after seeing the occupancy level of other trains of Indian Railways operating in both these routes.
The Lucknow-New Delhi (82501/82502) Tejas Express will remain cancelled from November 23 whereas Ahmedabad-Mumbai (82901/82902) will remain cancelled from November 24.
IRCTC started the Lucknow-Delhi-Lucknow Tejas Express on October 4, 2019, and the Ahmedabad-Mumbai-Ahmedabad on January 19 this year. The two services are the first set of trains run by a corporate entity, IRCTC, a subsidiary of the Indian Railways.
After remaining suspended for almost seven months due to nationwide Covid-19 containment measures, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Tejas Express resumed operations from October 17. According to a Livemint report, the occupancy of the train, which has 736 seats, was at just 25 to 40 per cent as against 50-80 per cent before the outbreak.
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!