Army runs special trains amid lockdown to ferry soldiers to northern borders

Bengaluru: In view of the extended nationwide lockdown, the Indian Army is planning to run two special military trains to meet the operational requirements of the northern and eastern borders. Today, a special train with about 650 officers and soldiers departed from Bengaluru Central Station for Jammu. The move was undertaken to ensure operational preparedness of front  line Units. The second train will run on April 18 on the Bengaluru-Belgaum-Secunderabad-Gopalpur-Howrah-NJP-Guwahati route.

The move is aimed at bringing back thousands of Army personnel who were on leave and stuck there due to non-availability of public transport like railways and domestic flights after the announcement of nationwide lockdown to combat coronavirus pandemic.

Army personnel who have completed their professional training programmes have been moved to their Units deployed in operational areas along northern borders. A coordinated action between defence officials, railways divisional staff and the state administration ensured smooth preparation and departure of the train.

 Strict safety and medical protocols as mandated by the lockdown orders were followed in which sanitisation of the  train, persons and their luggage was ensured. All persons underwent medical screening / check-up and have been instructed to maintain social distancing within the  train as well as follow all other preventive guidelines strictly.