Ahmedabad: Tejas Express halts after demand drops off

AHMEDABAD: The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a public sector undertaking of the Ministry of Railways, has decided to cancel the operation of

Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express

from November 24.

The train was cancelled as the number of passengers opting for Tejas was very less. Not just Tejas, but the traffic towards Mumbai was minimal. The railways officials said that even for the train leaving in the morning at 6.40 am from Ahmedabad there were 318 seats available, while the same for Saturday had 252 seats.

“The occupancy in the train was even less than 30% from Ahmedabad, while from Mumbai it was around 35%. Tejas Express had resumed operations from October 17 after a seven-month gap due to the Covid-19 lockdown imposed in March,” said a railway official.

The officials said that the the situation would be reviewed after observing the occupancy in other trains that ran on the route. However, not just Tejas but the occupancy in other trains to Mumbai was at its minimal.

For example, in the Shatabdi Train from Friday there were 21 seats which were available, while the same train had over 500 seats available since Tuesday. The IRCTC reservation reveals that even for the double decker and Karnavati Express there was a scarcity in seat occupancy.

The officials said that usually these three trains are the first to be booked and there is a waiting list for nearly fortnight of the train leaving Ahmedabad for Mumbai. The officials said that situation was same for most of the trains heading for Mumbai.

“One could find people coming to Gujarat from Mumbai despite the festive season. However, there was no movement from Ahmedabad towards Mumbai. Earlier Tejas was getting passengers as Shatabdi was not operational, but now since the outbreak of Covid-19, there has been a decline in the passenger traffic,” informed the official.