Vivek Express: Last train to complete its journey as India came to a coronavirus halt
New Delhi : The Vivek Express runs only once a week in either direction as it travels between Dibrugarh and Kanyakumari with around 56 halts.
Kanyakumari-bound Vivek Express, the country's longest-running passenger train, chugged off from platform number 1 of the Dibrugarh railway station in Assam on the night of March 22 (Saturday). India was set to observe the Janta curfew the next day, and by the time it reached its destination in Kanyakumari on Wednesday, India had come to a complete halt and lockdown state.
Vivek Express completed its 4,200 kilometres long journey in 82 hours and 50 minutes and became the last train of India to ferry passenger before halting complete services.
The Railways on Saturday had announced that all its passenger services would be suspended till March 31 as part of preventive measures to check the spread of the coronavirus infection.
While all services from Sunday stood cancelled, the Railways allowed the trains that had already started off from their originating points to reach their destinations. Vivek Express was one of them.
Train no: 15906 (Vivek Express) reached its destination today at 9:36. It began its journey before #JantaCurfew. The last train in the entire IR to complete it's journey. The train ran at less than 50% occupancy through out most part of it journey. @RailMinIndia pic.twitter.com/tgBMudyQK1
— @GMSouthernrailway (@GMSRailway) March 25, 2020
A Southern Railways official informed that the train reached Kanyakumari at 9:36 am Wednesday, a few minutes ahead of schedule. At the time when it reached Kerala there were only 15 passengers and all of them have been put into a quarantine and will be released after they show no sign or symptoms of the virus.
