Coronavirus: Railways cancels 155 trains; no cancellation fee charged

New Delhi, Mar 19: Railways on Thursday cancelled 84 trains, which will not operate between March 20 and March 31, in view of low occupancy and the novel coronavirus pandemic, officials said. With this, the total number of cancelled trains has climbed to 155.

Railway officials said the trains were identified last night and the decision will be effective from March 20 until March 31.

"All passengers having tickets in these 155 trains are being informed about it individually. No cancellation fee will be taken for these trains. Passengers will get 100-per cent refund," an official said.

The national transporters has also issued a set of guidelines to zonal headquarters for its catering staff, stating no employee having fever, cough, runny nose or difficulty in breathing "should be deployed in the business of food handling on the Indian Railways".

The novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 169 on Thursday after 18 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, according to the Health Ministry. The cases include 25 foreign nationals -- 17 from Italy, 3 from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each belonging to Canada, Indonesia and Singapore. The figure also includes three deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra so far.