Special trains to be cancelled from March 31? Check what Indian Railways has to say

New Delhi: Amid the recent reports about the special trains going to be cancelled from March 31, the Ministry of Railways on Monday (March 15, 2021) said that these news reports are 'purely misleading' and 'not based on facts'.

The Indian Railways informed that the wrong news clips are being circulated on social media platforms and said that they have not made any such announcement.

The Ministry of Railways in an official statement said, "Kindly refer to some news report in social media that Railways is going to cancel its trains which are currently operational from 31st March 2021 is purely misleading and not based on facts." 

"Wrong news clips are being circulated in social media. All may please be informed that the video being circulated is last year's news being peddled today," the statement said further.

एक खबर में दावा किया जा रहा है कि 31 मार्च तक सभी ट्रेनें रद्द कर दी गई हैं। #PIBFactCheck: यह खबर पुरानी है। @RailMinIndia ने 31 मार्च, 2021 तक ट्रेन रद्द करने का यह फैसला नहीं लिया है। इस पुरानी खबर को गलत संदर्भ में साझा किया जा रहा है। pic.twitter.com/YcZ8Za9Vj1 — PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) March 15, 2021

The Ministry of Railways stated that the express trains and suburban trains currently operational as special trains will continue to run. 

The Railways also requested passengers to follow COVID-19 protocol while travelling.

Meanwhile, the South Central Railway (SCR) zone has extended the periodicity of 30 special trains to various destinations across India till June. 

Check the list here:

SCR EXTENDED 30 SPECIAL TRAIN SERVICES

Railways has extended the periodicity of 30 Special Trains between various destinations #SpecialTrains @RailMinIndia pic.twitter.com/9UOxLNFWce — South Central Railway (@SCRailwayIndia) March 15, 2021

In other news, Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal has informed that the arch bottom of the Chenab bridge, which is soon going to be the world's highest Railway bridge, has been completed.

Goyal took to his official Twitter account to share the development. He said, "In a historic moment, the arch bottom of the Chenab bridge has been completed today. Next, the arch upper of the engineering marvel in making will be completed.

"It is all set to be the world's highest Railway bridge," the Minister of Railways added.

In a historic moment, the arch bottom of the Chenab bridge  has been completed today. Next, the arch upper of the engineering marvel in making will be completed.

It is all set to be the world's highest Railway bridge. pic.twitter.com/dqwN5N2HTE — Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) March 14, 2021

As per reports, the bridge will be 30 metres higher than Paris's iconic Eiffel Tower and will soar 359 metres above the bed of the river. 

Earlier on Sunday, the Ministry of Railways announced that their Railway Parcel Management System has undergone a total transformation. The computerization of the parcel management system is now being extended from 84 locations to additional 143 locations in phase-II and 523 locations in phase –III.

According to the Railways, this will bring enhanced features to the parcel system like:

1. Enhanced user-friendly interface for public website of Parcel Management System on www.parcel.indianrail.gov.in.

2. Provision of 120 days advance booking of parcel space has been enabled in PMS.

3. Showing the availability of parcel space on the online e-forwarding note module on the PMS website.

4. Barcoding on each consignment for tracking of parcel on Status updation of packages through GPRS network transmission of data from handheld mobile devices through scanning of barcodes.

5. SMS to customers (sender and receiver) at each stage from parcel booking, loading, unloading to delivery on registered mobile given at the time of booking.

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