Bangladesh Railway is preparing to resume operations of passenger trains from August 11, a day after the strict lockdown ends on August 10.
Commuter trains will operate at half the passenger capacity in a bid to enforce social distancing norms amid the coronavirus pandemic, Railways Minister Md Nurul Islam Sujan told an online newspaper on Thursday.
However, the counters at train stations will remain shut and ticket purchases will need to be made online, he added.
After the nationwide lockdown is relaxed, 38 pairs of inter-city and 19 pairs of mail and commuter trains will operate on a limited basis.
The minister said that while the preparations were underway, everything depends on the government’s final call.
The announcement comes shortly after the Cabinet division lifted the suspension of domestic flights from Friday.
In a bid to control the mounting covid cases and deaths, the government extended the strict lockdown, imposed on July 23, for five more days.
The restrictions, originally effective from July 1, were shortly relaxed between July 15 to July 22 on the occasion of Eid but resumed full scale on July 23.
On Thursday, the government extended the lockdowns for five more days while announcing that businesses, shops and offices will resume operations from August 11.