A 2020 news bulletin about trains being cancelled till March 31 that year has surfaced with claims that it is a recent announcement by the government.
The news bulletin from ABP News has been captioned as "Indian Railways Cancels All Passenger Trains Till March 31 | ABP News." It has been shared more than 44,000 times at the time of writing this article. The bulletin was shared by a page titled PB News, with a following of more than 18,000 users.
The six minute long news bulletin breaks news about all passenger and express trains being cancelled till March 31. The bulletin has surfaced after Nagpur city and adjoining areas went into a strict week-long lockdown following the second COVID wave.
The anchor states how in a latest development to curb the spread of COVID-19, Indian Railways announced the cancellation of all passenger trains till March 31.
The anchor then asks Member of Parliament, Narendra Singh Tomar, about the closing of the parliament. "There has been no decision taken in terms of the parliament yet," Tomar responds.
Video is from March 22, 2020
BOOM ran a keyword search on YouTube with the words: 31 मार्च तक सभी ट्रेनें रद्द ABP News and found the original news bulletin uploaded by the channel on March 22, 2020.
According to a report on Hindustan Times, The Indian Railways said all passengers trains across the country will not run till March 31 extending its initial order of cancelling trains only on March 22 for the Janta Curfew as the number of Covid-19 patients rose to 341 in India." Passenger trains were initially cancelled on March 22, for the Janta Curfew day. According to the order, issued by the Ministry of Railways, goods trains will continue to run to ensure essential services and that all suburban trains services, including those on the Central and Western Railway, will also be stopped till March 31.
"All originating long-distance mail/Express and Intercity trains (including premium trains) and all originating passenger trains shall remain cancelled till 2400 hours of 31.03.2020," it said in a circular. At the time of the announcement, the COVID-19 cases in India had reached 341.