IRCTC Gains As Mumbai Local Trains To Open For Fully Vaccinated People

Shares of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) rose as much as 4 per cent to hit record high of Rs 2,586.95 on the BSE a day after the Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that the local trains in Mumbai will be open from August 15 to fully vaccinated people 14 days after their second jab.

The suburban railway network is currently open to only essential service workers. Regular operations were shut down in April this year during the devastating second wave of COVID-19.

“We are providing some relaxations now but if cases go up, we will have to resort to lockdown again. So I appeal to you to not invite another wave of Covid,” Mr Thackeray said in a televised address to the state.

“Local trains in Mumbai will start from August 15 for those who have been vaccinated with both the shots. We will launch an app where people can update if they have taken both doses and when they took their second dose. People can take passes either from the app or from the offices,” Mr Thackeray added.

Opening up of Mumbai sub-urban railway network augurs well for IRCTC as it will increase demand for its catering services at the railway stations, analysts said.

Meanwhile, IRCTC will be considering stock split option on August 12 when it will announce its June quarter earnings.

As of 11:12 am, IRCTC shares were trading 3.27 per cent higher at Rs 2,568.65, outperforming the Sensex which was up 0.27 per cent.