The COVID-19 outbreak has significantly hit train services and railway officials in Vijayapura are recording lower passenger rates and the earnings have come down owing to the cancellation of tickets.
According to officials of the Central railway station here, an average of nearly 5,500 passengers travel daily, but it has reduced to just around 2,000 over a fortnight.
“People are either rescheduling their travel plans or they are cancelling their bookings,” said an official here.
The official said that while the average collection was around ₹5 lakh daily, it has come down to less than ₹2 lakh in the last 15 days.
“On an average, we used to get about 50 cancellations. But in the past week, the cancellations have increased to over 200. People also want to know whether more services will be hit in the near future and we are unable to guide them becase we do not know the plans of the government,” the official said.
Meanwhile, the railway station is also witnessing a deserted look. The occupancy in trains is also minimal and very few passengers are seen.
Even those businesses which depend on passengers at railway stations are faccing losses.
They include the auto drivers, hotels, bakeries, bookstalls, and hawkers.
