Indian Railways has planned to restart passenger trains in a phased manner from Tuesday, May 12, a statement released on Sunday, May 10 said.
Tickets can be booked only via the IRCTC website or mobile app from 4 PM onwards on May 11. Booking through ticket agents (IRCTC or Railways) is not permitted.
Counters will remain closed at all stations, including those for platform tickets.
Passenger services, which were suspended when the lockdown started on March 25, will start with 15 ‘special’ trains (total of 30 journeys) departing from Delhi and connecting cities in Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Tripura.
The Railways have warned that only passengers who have valid and confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter the Delhi station. All passengers would be required to wear face masks and maintain social distancing. Only asymptomatic people can travel.
The Railways informed that the trains will run with AC coaches only and will have a limited stoppage. In due course, details regarding the train schedule will be issued.
‘These trains will be run 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,’ NDTV quoted the Railways’ statement as saying.
Railways Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted confirmation: ‘Railways plans to gradually restart passenger train operations from May 12, 2020, initially with 15 pairs of special trains connecting New Delhi with major stations across India. Booking in these trains will start at 4 pm on May 11’.Based on the availability of coaches, more ‘special’ trains will be operational.
Railways plans to gradually restart passenger train operations from 12th May, 2020, initially with 15 pairs of special trains connecting New Delhi with major stations across India. Booking in these trains will start at 4 pm on 11th May.https://t.co/DW9I1sPRx6
— Piyush Goyal (@PiyushGoyal) May 10, 2020
Since March, more than 20,000 coaches have been converted into coronavirus isolation wards, Thousands more are reserved for returning migrant workers to their home states.
Also Read: Gujarat: Thousands Of Migrant Workers Protest In Surat To Go Home, 55 Arrested, 60 Detained
