The isolation ward train services, on request from state governments, will be deployed at the railway stations and linked to the nearest COVID-19 hospital, as per government guidelines.

Indian Railways stations identified for COVID-19 isolation coaches! Considering the possibility of a surge in the number of novel coronavirus cases, as many as 215 railway stations in 23 states and Union Territories have been identified by the government where trains with the new isolation coaches can be deployed. Spread across major hotspots, these Indian Railways stations are located in green zones as well as orange zones, according to an IE report. The isolation ward train services, on request from state governments, will be deployed at the railway stations and linked to the nearest COVID-19 hospital, as per government guidelines.

The guidelines recently issued by the Health Ministry stated that considering the possibility of an increase in the number of COVID-19 cases, a view is taken to use Indian Railways coaches as novel coronavirus care centres. According to the guidelines, the train coaches will be used for cases that are suspected or confirmed and will be categorized into very mild and mild. The SOP stated that separate coaches will be utilized for suspected and confirmed cases. Also, patients may be given individual cabins and at the most, two patients may be accommodated in a cabin. A senior government official was quoted in the report saying that the railway stations have been identified in such a way that the trains can be used there and also the trains can remain on standby so that at the shortest possible time, they can reach any place.

The list has stations from all the major cities – Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Chennai as well as major cities in states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Goa, Tripura, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Punjab, and Karnataka.

There are 27 stations from Uttar Pradesh, 21 stations from Maharashtra, 18 stations from West Bengal, 15 stations from Bihar, 14 stations from Madhya Pradesh, 14 stations from Karnataka, 13 stations from Assam, 11 stations from Gujarat, 10 stations from Tamil Nadu, nine stations from Odisha, seven stations from Punjab, seven stations from Jharkhand, three stations from Kerala, two stations from Jammu and Kashmir and two stations from Telangana. According to the report, the railway stations have been identified after considering if allied facilities such as electricity and water to make these coaches functional, are available. In 85 of the railway stations, medical staff from railway hospitals will be deployed.