New Delhi, January 7: A viral news is doing rounds on social media platforms claiming that all the trains that were stopped by the Indian Railways in March 2020, have resumed operations from January 6, 2021. The fake report also states that passengers can also get railway tickets easily without any hassle. In March 2020, the government had suspended the train services to restrict the movement of the people in the wake of novel coronavirus pandemic in the country. In June, services were resumed partially on some routes. Indian Railways is currently running limited trains with strict COVID-19 protocols in place.
Dismissing the fake claims, a fact check by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said that these claims were baseless and termed it as 'fake news', adding that the Indian Railways has not made any such announcement regarding resumption of all the train services."This claim fake as the Rail Ministry has not made any such announcement", it said. Earlier in November 2020, another fake news related to train services was being circulated on social media. The fake WhatsApp forward stated that all trains including the COVID-19 special trains will stop operating after December 1, 2020.
Here's the tweet:
एक खबर मे दावा किया गया है कि भारतीय रेल ने 22 मार्च 2020 के बाद जिन ट्रेनों का परिचालन बंद कर दिया था उन्हे 6 जनवरी 2021 से दोबारा चालू किया जा रहा है।#PIBFactCheck: यह दावा #फ़र्ज़ी है। @RailMinIndia ने ऐसी कोई घोषणा नहीं की है। pic.twitter.com/dcDOnXPapx
— PIB Fact Check (@PIBFactCheck) January 6, 2021
All train services were cancelled since March 25 when the lockdown was imposed in the country to curb the spread of coronavirus. Amid the rising COVID-19 cases in India, a lot of misinformation and fake news is doing rounds on social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp among others. The misinformation creates confusion among people, leading to panic and fear.
Fact check
A report claims that the trains which were stopped by the Indian Railways after March 2020 are being re-started from January 6, 2021.
This claim is fake as the Rail Ministry has not made any such announcement.
(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 07, 2021 11:58 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).