The government has decided to keep passenger train services between Rajshahi and other parts of the country suspended from Friday in the wake of the increased detection rate of Covid-19 infection in the frontier districts.

The suspension of services will be effective until midnight past June 17, Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman, director (public relations) of Bangladesh Railway, said Thursday.

Bangladesh Railway came up with the announcement as the local administration has imposed an all-out lockdown in the Rajshahi city for a week, starting 5pm Friday, amid a spike in Covid-19 infections there.

Also read: Train services to resume at half capacity from Monday

No vehicle will be allowed into Rajshahi city and transports cannot leave the area. However, emergency vehicles are exempt from the lockdown.

Rajshahi division confirmed 815 daily cases – the highest in the country — in the past 24 hours until Thursday morning. Eight people died from Covid-19 there during the same period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

Also read: Passenger train services to remain suspended during lockdown: Minister

On May 24, regular train services across the country were resumed after suspension of over a month as part of the government restrictions on people's movement to curb coronavirus transmission. However, the authorities were asked to keep 50% of seats vacant for ensuring social distancing.

On April 5, passenger train services were suspended across the country as part of a countrywide lockdown – imposed to tackle the second wave of infection.