New Delhi, Mar 17 (IANS): As a preventive measure against novel coronavirus (COVID-19), the railways on Tuesday increased prices of platform tickets from Rs 10 to Rs 50 for 250 stations in the country to minimise the footfalls at the stations.

A senior Railway Ministry official said that the zonal railways have decided to increase the prices of platform tickets.

"Platform ticket prices at 250 stations have been increased from Rs 10 to Rs 50 in several parts of the country," he said.

The official further said that the Western Railways has increased the platfrom ticket fare to Rs 50 for railway stations of Mumbai, Vadodra, Ahmedabad, Ratlam, Rajkot and Bhavnagar.

"The increase in the platform ticket prices is a temporary measure to contain extra load of people in the railway premises", he said.

He also pointed out that in March 2015, the railways has delegated the power to Divisional Railway Managers (DRMS) to increase the rate of platform tickets beyond Rs 10 to regulate rush at platforms during specific requirements under intimation of its office.

With 12 new cases of novel coronavirus infections reported in India on Tuesday, the number of COVID-19 patients in India climbed to 126, up from 114 a day earlier, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.