Following the suspension of passenger, mail and express train services amid the nationwide lockdown to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the Indian Railways has utilised the time for long pending maintenance work and yard remodelling that earlier acted as bottlenecks.
Railway ministry officials said that during the last 41 days of the nationwide lockdown the national transporter has taken up the maintenance of bridges, remodelling of yards, renewal of scissors crossover, which have been pending for several years.
“These works were pending for several years and were confronting railways with severe bottlenecks. Railways planned these works during lockdown period considering it once in a lifetime opportunity to wipe out these maintenance arrears and take up the execution of work without affecting the train services,” he said.