Railways to resume passenger train services from tomorrow; Booking of tickets opens online at 4 pm today

Indian Railways on Sunday announced its plan to gradually restart the passenger train services starting from May 12, 2020. Initially, 15 pairs of trains will ply with passengers onboard.

Booking for reservation in these trains will start at 4 pm today and will be available only on the IRCTC website and Mobile App.

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.

Ticket booking counters at the railway stations shall remain closed and counter tickets will not be issued. There would be no provision of tatkal and premium tatkal accommodation. Moreover, no current booking shall be allowed.

Only passengers with valid confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter the railway stations. During travelling the passengers will have to wear face cover and undergo screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train.

All passenger trains will be run with AC coaches only and with limited stoppages. The fare will be equivalent to the ticket fare that is charged for Rajdhani Train, added the ministry.

Railways will start more special services on new routes. 20 thousand coaches have been reserved as COVID-19 care centres and an adequate number of coaches is also kept reserved to enable operation of up to 300 trains every day as Shramik Special for stranded migrants.