Western Railways suffers loss of Rs 1,784 crores due to COVID-19

Puducherry [India], July 20 (ANI): The COVID-19 crisis has caused the loss of earnings to the tune of Rs 1,784 crores to the Western Railways.
The figure includes approximately Rs 263 crores for suburban section and approximately Rs 1,521 crores for non-suburban section, according to Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), Western Railways, Sumit Thakur.
The CPRO further said that the Western Railways has ensured the refund of Rs 398.01 crores to 61.15 lakhs passengers due to the cancellation of tickets from March 1 to July 16 this year.
The Mumbai division, which is also the headquarters of the Western Railways, alone has ensured a refund of Rs 190.20 crores during this period, he said.
The lockdown imposed due to COVID-19 had led to a temporary halt on the plying of trains from the final week of March.
Indian Railways had started plying Shramik Special trains from May 1 amid the lockdown to send the migrant labourers back to their native states.
From May 12, fifteen pairs of special trains also started operating for general passengers from different cities of the country.
While trains have started plying on the majority of the routes, however, due to the COVID-19 threat the occupancy is running low and the number of trains is also reduced.
India's COVID-19 count on Sunday reached 10,77,618, according to the Union Health Ministry.
This includes 3,73,379 active cases and 6,77,423 cured and discharged patients. The death tol due to the disease stood at 26,816, the Ministry added. (ANI)