Despite rising coronavirus cases: India’s packed trains ready to roll again

NEW DELHI: Tens of thousands of people have booked out seats on Indian trains that are due to restart on Tuesday after a near seven-week lockdown, raising concerns of spreading the coronavirus in the absence of social distancing, a British wire service reported.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government is starting to pull back from one of the world’s tightest lockdowns of 1.3 billion people that has left millions out of work and stranded in cities far from home while infections keep rising. State-run railways restarted services from New Delhi to 12 cities including Mumbai, Chennai and Bengaluru, and within an hour of opening, all seats were booked out online, a spokesman said. “The trains will run full. Reservations have been made for 54,000 passengers,” said another official.

Tuesday will only be a small opening for the notoriously overcrowded rail system.

Passengers will have to wear masks throughout the journey and will be screened before they board the train, the railway ministry said. They also have to sign up for a government-backed contact tracing app on their phones, the ministry said.