New Delhi, March 20: In view of the "janata curfew" to be imposed, the Indian Railways has announced the suspension of passenger train services on Sunday. From the midnight of March 21 to 10 pm on March 22, passenger trains would not be plying, the rail body said in a statement issued on Friday. The suspension of services is aimed at enforcing participation in the people's curfew announced by Prime Minister Narendra to contain the transmission of coronavirus. Catch all the live updates related to coronavirus outbreak in India and abroad.

The passenger trains which, however, will be on the run before the janata curfew is imposed would be allowed to function as per the schedule, the Railways said. It further added that the suburban train network, in the metro cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai, would function at the "bare minimum level" on this Sunday.

"All passenger trains originating between midnight of March 21/22 to 2200 hours of March 22 shall not run. However, the passenger train services already on run at 0700 hours on the day will be allowed to run to the destinations," said the statement issued by the Indian Railways.

"Suburban services in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Secunderabad shall be reduced to bare minimum level only to cater to essential travel requirement on March 22, Sunday," the statement further added.

Update by ANI

The overall toll of coronavirus cases jumped to 235 in India on Friday, by the time this report was published. The fatality count remains at four, with one death each reported so far in Punjab, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Delhi. The most number of infected cases, 52, have been recorded in Maharashtra, followed by 40 in Kerala.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday announced that social distancing needs to be "maximised" in the days to come to prevent the spread of coronavirus. Describing the disease outbreak as a crisis more grave than World War I and II, Modi said only a concerted approach would aid in combating the virus. He announced that the janata curfew would come into effect on each Sundays, beginning March 22 and would remain into effect till the threat of coronavirus subsides.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 20, 2020 08:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).