Apart from running special trains for candidates of JEE and NEET examinations, the Ministry of Railways on Friday informed that it will run special trains on 23 routes for aspirants of National Defence Academy (NDA) and Naval Academy (NA) Exams from September 4th to 6th. In a statement, the Central Railways (CR) said that each special train would make two trips, except for the CSMT- Sawantwadi Road Special Train, of which four services, will be operated.
The NDA, NA examinations will be conducted by the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) on September 6th. This will be a common exam in which two editions of it will be held on a single day. Usually, this exam is held twice a year, but this year due to the ever-threatening COVID-19 pandemic the first edition of the exam could not be held. UPSC, later, decided to hold both the exams together.
These special trains will run between Solapur-Mumbai, Pune-Mumbai, Ahmednagar-Mumbai, Nashik Road-Mumbai, Bhusaval- Mumbai, Mumbai-Sawantwadi Road, Pune-Hyderabad, Kolhapur- Nagpur, Pune-Nagpur and Mumbai-Nagpur, the Central Railways announced.
Special trains will also run on Nashik Road-Nagpur, Amravati-Nagpur, Jalgaon-Nagpur, Akola-Nagpur, Ahmednagar- Nagpur, Panvel-Nagpur, Balharshah-Nagpur, Pune-Ahmedabad, Mumbai-Miraj-Madgaon, Kolhapur-Madgaon, Kolhapur-Dharwad, Pune-Dharwad, and Mumbai-Hyderabad, the CR further stated. Additionally, in Bihar, 20 pairs of special trains will run till September 15th for those candidates who are appearing for the NDA exam.
On this decision, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has said, “enhancing convenience of candidates appearing for National Defence Academy & Naval Academy exams, Railways to run special trains on 4th, 5th & 6th September. Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi Ji, Railways is leaving no stone unturned in assisting students.”
Bookings for the fully reserved special trains on special charges will commence on September 4 at 6 pm at all computerized reservation centres and online on the IRCTC website, the CR said. Every train will have a variable number of AC and non-AC coaches, it added further.
The Central Railways also appealed to the passengers travelling on these special trains to follow COVID-19 guidelines like wearing masks, using sanitizers frequently and maintaining social distancing. Furthermore, the CR said, the students and one guardian each would be allowed to travel on the exam days and the admit card will act as their letter of authority.
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