New Delhi, May 17 (IANS): Close to 3.5 lakh passengers have boarded the special trains of the Indian Railways started since May 12 to ferry stranded people between Delhi and other major cities of the country, generating a revenue of nearly Rs 70 crore.

According to the Indian Railways, while 27,788 passengers travelled on Saturday, a total of 30,127 people are boarding 21 trains on Sunday.

The train service was started by the Railways with 15 pairs of trains, including the return journey, from May 12 to ferry stranded people.

In the initial phase, 15 pairs of trains are running as 'special trains' from New Delhi station connecting Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi.

Since March-end, train and air services for passengers were barred in view of COVID-19 lockdown. While the domestic flights are yet to start, the railways started trains in a phased manner.

According to the railways, while 1,87,827 tickets were booked till date, "a total of 3,48,634 passengers have travelled so far on these special trains".

The total Passenger Reservation System fare till date has been Rs 69,33,67,735.

About 45 days after suspending all passenger trains amid the coronavirus outbreak, the Indian Railways is running 15 air-conditioned (AC) express trains equivalent to its premium train Rajdhani Express since May 12 with limited stops.

The railways also started 'Shramik Special' trains earlier this month and has ferried over 15 lakh stranded migrant workers in 1,074 Shramik Special trains.

However, goods trains carrying essentials were running in the lockdown to ensure the supply of essential goods.