Coronavirus outbreak: 16 passengers stranded in Vizag as Indian Railways cancels trains

For the first time in history, the Indian Railways has canceled all its passenger trains and shut railway stations in wake of the coronavirus scare. While all the scheduled passenger trains have been cancelled till March 31 2020, the railway stations are closed to the public. With this, all the railway station in Vizag too have gone deserted. Only the cleaning staff, the station master and other officials are being permitted into the stations, with tight security in place at the station entrances. All the shopkeepers have been asked to vacate the stations.

To address their latest move and spread awareness, the Ministry of Railways took to Twitter and stated that the coronavirus pandemic is a serious issue. Appeals were made to the citizens to stay at home and curb spreading the virus.

Further, due to the unforeseen cancellations, the Ministry of Railways assured that passengers who have made advanced bookings will be refunded their amount within three days as compared to three months previously.

However, due to the cancellation of trains, 16 people belonging to various states in India have been stranded in Vizag. The group of 16 passengers was travelling from Kerala to Assam. With no direct trains plying in this route, they had got down at Vijayawada and travelled to Vizag with hopes of catching a connecting train. However, with the latest cancellation of trains, the passengers – primarily from the northeast of India, have now been stranded outside the railway station.

The total number of coronavirus cases in Vizag has risen to three with a 25-year-old man testing positive after returning from the United Kingdom.