India to restart passenger train services

Indian Railways said it plans to gradually restart passenger train operations from Tuesday (May 12) initially with 15 pairs of trains (30 return journeys).

These trains will be run as special trains from New Delhi station connecting 15 important cities of the country, namely Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Trivandrum, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi.

"Thereafter, Indian Railways shall start more special services on new routes, based on the available coaches after reserving 20,000 coaches for COVID-19 care centres and an adequate number of coaches being reserved to enable operation of up to 300 trains every day as 'Shramik Special' for stranded migrants," said the release.

Booking for reservation on these trains will start at 4 pm on 11 May and will be available only on IRCTC website and mobile application. Booking of tickets through ‘agents’, (both IRCTC and Railway) shall not be allowed. No provision of tatkal and premium tatkal accommodation will be there and no current booking shall be allowed either. All these trains will be run only with AC coaches and with limited stoppages. The fare will be equivalent to the ticket fare that is charged for Rajdhani Train.

Ticket booking counters at stations will remain closed and no counter tickets, including platform tickets, will be issued. Only the passengers with valid confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter the railway stations.

It'll be mandatory to wear face cover, undergo screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed on trains.

Further details, including train schedule, will be issued separately in due course, said the statement from Railways.

Source: Agencies


Dhaka/AI