New Delhi (NVI): Indian Railways today said that it will gradually restart passenger train services from May 12, initially with 15 pairs of trains and booking for reservation in these trains will start at 4 pm tomorrow.
Booking will be available only on the IRCTC website, Ministry of Railways said in a statement, adding that ticket booking counters at the railway stations shall remain closed and no counter tickets (including platform tickets) shall 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, the Ministry said.
“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 adequate number of coaches being reserved to enable operation of up to 300 trains everyday as ‘Shramik Special’ for stranded migrants,” it said.
Union Railways Minister Piyush Goyal wrote on Twitter: “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.”
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
The Ministry further informed that only passengers with valid confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter the railway stations.
Proper COVID safety and social distancing protocols will be followed and it will be mandatory for the passengers to wear face cover and undergo screening at departure. “Only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train. Further details including train schedule will be issued separately in due course,” the Ministry added.
