People waited anxiously for the first air-conditioned train from Bengaluru City to New Delhi and the Indian Railways made elaborate arrangements to ensure social distancing and handing over of the persons alighting at the Anantapur and Guntakal stations to the district administration.
Squares have been painted on the platform for the passengers getting into the train to maintain social distance and both the stations have been spruced up.
The train arriving at seven minutes past midnight at Anantapur and an hour later at Guntakal will bring 32 passengers from Bengaluru to Anantapur and 15 to Guntakal.
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Health check
While the majority of the seats in the 20-coach special AC train No. 02691 had been booked, it was not clear how many would get into the train from Anantapur and Guntakal. Passengers were asked to reach the railway station more than an hour prior to the scheduled departure of the train as health of all the passengers would be checked, their addresses of destination collected and the information passed on to the respective district administration.
Running as per the Rajadhani Express schedule, it would have one 24-berth First AC coach, five 46-berth Second AC coaches and 11 64-berth Third AC coaches along with a pantry car and two power generator coaches.
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Guntakal Senior Divisional Manager Prashant Kumar said no tatkal and waiting list had been allowed, hence some berths might go vacant for some distances.
The train stops only at Anantapur and Guntakal between Bengaluru and Secunderabad. Its pairing train will start from New Delhi and reach Anantapur via Secunderabad and Guntakal on Wednesday.
Ticket counters
Meanwhile, the physical ticket booking had been stopped and only those with 100% concession like Army personnel, ex-Army personnel, MPs, MLAs or railway staff could book at the railway counters without any cash transaction till May 17, said Chief Public Relations Officer Rakesh.
Disappointment
Several people (mostly migrant labourers) had been reaching Anantapur and Guntakal stations to check if any trains were running to Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh and going back disheartened.
An entire rake has been placed on the Anantapur platform to enable people from West Bengal to reach their destinations, but despite the A.P. government’s request, the West Bengal State government has not given permission for them to enter that State, which has been delaying the start of the train for the past three days.