Southern Railway (SR) has decided to allow only those with a double vaccination certificate to travel by Chennai local trains from January 10 till January 31. “The restrictions shall come into effect from 04 hrs on Monday, January 10 till 23:59 hours of January 31 in the Suburban train services in Chennai region including the extended areas of Chennai Suburban,” a release by the railway said.
Tamil Nadu on Friday recorded 8,981 fresh infections with 8 deaths of which Chennai accounted for 4,531 cases. The state government on Wednesday announced night curfews that came into effect from January 6 and full lockdowns on Sundays to be in effect till January 20 as part of measures to contain the spread of coronavirus.
In view of the pandemic situation prevailing in the country and taking into account the guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and Govt of Tamil Nadu, Southern Railway has been bringing various restrictions and relaxations wherever required for passengers traveling in suburban train services of Chennai region.
Taking into account the current surge in the COVID cases and threat of Omicron variant, state government has imposed several restrictions from Janaury 6. As per this, suburban train services shall be permitted for operation with 50% of the seating capacity.
HERE’S A LIST OF STEPS TAKEN BY THE SOUTHERN RAILWAY TO ENSURE PASSENGERS SAFETY:
1.Only passengers in possession of Certificate for Covid Vaccination ( both doses ) will be permitted to travel in suburban trains. The passengers will need to produce the second dose vaccination certificate /final certificate for COVID-19 Vaccination for the issue of journey/season tickets at the counters along with their valid ID proofs.
2. For passengers already possessing season tickets issued prior to Saturday, such passengers will necessarily carry the second dose vaccination certificate/ final certificate for COVID-19 Vaccination along with their valid ID proofs and produce the same on demand by the Ticket Checking staff.
3. UTS on MOBILE App service will not be available in order to comply with the above.
Southern railway has also appealed passengers to be fully aware of the restrictions imposed by the Government of Tamil Nadu and to undertake journey only in accordance with norms laid down. It also requested those travelling to follow all the COVID-19 protocols issued by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and Government of Tamil Nadu from time to time. Passengers are also urged to adhere to all COVID appropriate behavior such as social distancing, wearing of masks and washing of hands at regular intervals while in the station and on board the train.
The release said that railway administration shall impose a penalty of Rs.500 wherever passenger are found not to be wearing the mask. SR also appealed passengers to co-operate with Railway employees for checking of valid documents at stations and during the journey.
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