Aarogya Setu mandatory for train travel

NEW DELHI: The Railways have announced that it is now mandatory for those travelling via the ‘special trains’ to install and use the Central Government’s Aarogya Setu app. The announcement was made via the Ministry of Railways’ official twitter handle. The government’s application provides a means to the users to identify possible risks of infections and notifies if any corona positive patient is in the vicinity of the user. It crossed over 100 million registered users on May 13, which is about 7.2 per cent of the Indian population. Earlier, on May 11, the Railways had notified that passengers were “advised” to download the application. Further, sources from the Northern Railways have confirmed that they are conducting thermal screening of passengers as they enter the station premises and only people with no symptoms are being allowed to go forward their journey. 

The Railways have initiated inter-city connectivity from New Delhi via 15 ‘special’ Rajdhani trains pairs, making 30 trains operational. Since the announcement, over 1.6 lakh people have booked train tickets, from which, over 90,000 tickets have been issued, a spokesperson from the Railways confirmed. The first train to run was the New Delhi-Bilaspur Rajdhani Superfast train.