The India Railways will operate 100 pairs of special trains starting June 1 in the second phase of graded resumption of passenger train services in the country, the Ministry of Railways said.
The ministry arrived at the decision after consulting the ministries of health, and home affairs – 17 Jan Shatabdis, five Durontos and several other popular mail and express trains made it to the list of passenger services that will restart operations next month, bookings for which open today.
Some of the popular trains that will resume operations to connect major as well as tier-two cities across India include Sampark Kranti Express, Falaknuma Express, Poorva Express, Shaheed Express and Sabarmati Express, apart from the Jan Shatabdis that are meant for shorter distances. The five Duronto trains will run from Howrah, Sealdah, Shalimar, Ernakulam and Secunderabad to Yasvantpur, Puri, Patna and Nizamuddin.
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The ministry said tickets can only be booked online on the IRCTC website or through its mobile app, with an advanced reservation period of a maximum of 30 days. While booking of tickets across the counter at railway stations will not be available, making reservations through agents will not be allowed.
Railways Minister Piyush Goyal confirmed the news with a tweet.
“Railways has decided to further restore passenger train services from 1st June for transporting people across India. Taking strict precautionary measures, 200 more trains will commence. E-ticket booking for these trains will begin on 21st May at 10 am,” he tweeted.
These special trains, with both air-conditioned and non-airconditioned classes, will be additional to the existing Shramik and special trains that started operations earlier this month, the ministry said in a statement. All other passenger trains such as mail, express, passenger and suburban services will continue to be suspended until further notice from the government.
The 200 trains will be fully reserved, including the general coaches, and seats will be provided to all passengers. Regular fares will be charged for the tickets, while second seating fares will be charged for the reserved general coach seats.
Although Reservation Against Cancellation and waitlists will be made available, waitlisted passengers will not be allow to board the train. Also, no unreserved tickets will be issued nor will passengers be able to obtain tickets onboard during travel. Special provisions such as tatkal and premium tatkal will not be available. Only four categories of Divyangjan concession and 11 categories of patient concessions will be allowed in these services.
All passengers will be required to follow a host of guidelines laid down by the ministry – while all passengers will be screened for COVID-19, only those with no symptoms and confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter the stations or board the trains. They will have to keep their faces covered and observe physical distancing both at the station as well as during their journey. Upon arrival at their last stop, passengers will have to adhere to health protocols set by the destination state or union territory.
The ministry said passengers will not be charged for catering services since pre-paid meal booking and e-catering services will be discontinued. Passengers will be able to buy bottled water and limited food options from IRCTC, the information for which will be available during ticket reservation. Passengers are advised to bring their own food and drinking water, along with linen as no blankets or curtains will be available onboard the trains to minimise chances of infection. However, stationary catering and vending units at the stations will remain open while passengers will be able to buy takeout food items from the refreshment rooms.
The ministry advised passengers to download the Aarogya Setu app on their cellphones.
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