Notwithstanding the coronavirus scare in the past few days, South Central Railway (SCR) has not yet witnessed a drop in passenger numbers even as it claims to have taken several measures to arrest the spread of the virus.
“Our trains are running full as usual with the only blip being in the suburban train services of MMTS as they have been curtained on account of infrastructure works for phase two. All our trains are cleaned on reaching the destinations, but now we are going to step up cleanliness and sanitation efforts,” said senior officials.
Top officials held brainstorming sessions and after confabulating with Railway Board, SCR General Manager Gajanan Mallya has said that grab rods, hand rails, toilet handles and the likes will be cleaned regularly by the on-board sanitation staff.
Already, separate isolation wards for treating suspected COVID-19 cases have been created at the zonal railway hospital here and at all other six divisional hospitals. Help desks are being set up at main stations of Secunderabad, Hyderabad and Kacheguda to provide information to passengers on the do’s and don’ts.
Through video-conferencing, medical personnel have been made aware of the protocol to be followed to handle suspected patients of the virus that is spreading worldwide, informed SCR chief public relations officer Ch. Rakesh.
Information Education and Communication material regarding coronavirus would be displayed at important locations at all stations in English, Hindi and Telugu. Machinery has been put in place for monitoring suspected cases on the railway premises at various levels, he said.
Medical personnel on alert
The railway medical personnel are also in constant touch with Health department authorities to keep themselves abreast of the latest developments and obtain guidelines for the preventive and curative measures suggested by them. Regular public announcements are under way at railway stations to sensitise rail users to the preventive measures against the virus.
