Minister for Tourism Muttamsetti Srinivasa Rao urged Divisional Railway Manager Chetan Kumar Shrivastava to make efforts to resume train services between Araku and Visakhapatnam.
The Minister wrote to the DRM explaining the plight of the tribals, and other passengers, here on Thursday.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao said that before the lockdown, three train services - Visakhapatnam-Kirandul Express, Visakhapatnam-Kirandul Passenger, and Visakha-Araku Special - used to run between Visakhapatnam and Araku. He said that these train services used to cater to the needs of tribals who used to visit the city for essential services, agricultural needs and medical purposes. After these trains were suspended due to the COVID-19 crisis, the tribals have been facing a transportation crisis, he said.
Even the tourism sector has been badly hit due to lack of train services and resuming these trains would benefit this sector, he added.
Mr. Srinivasa Rao requested the DRM to make efforts to run these trains as the government has decided to run a few trains by giving relaxations on some routes.
