To facilitate candidates of civil services preliminary examination, scheduled to be held on October 4, the Railways ministry has decided to run special trains within the jurisdiction of East Coast Railway (ECoR) the day before, an official said on Saturday.

The examination special trains will touch different cities in Odisha and neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.

The special trains will leave from Berhampur, Keonjhar, Khariar Road and Ichhapuram at 4 pm, from Koraput at 5 am and 1 pm on October 3. The trains will arrive in the cities in the evening on the same day (October 3), the official said.

The ECoR’s special trains are Brahmapur-Cuttack MEMU examination special, Kendujhargarh-Cuttack MEMU examination special, Ichhapuram-Visakhapatnam MEMU examination special and Khariar Road-Sambalpur examination special.

The ECoR will also operate examination special trains between Koraput-Cuttack, Koraput-Visakhapatnam, Rourkela-Cuttack via Jharsuguda, Baripada-Cuttack and Vijayawada-Visakhapatnam to ferry the candidates.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has sought response from the Centre and the Union Public Service Commission on a plea seeking postponement of the exam by two to three months because of the COVID-19 pandemic.