Railways to start passenger train operations from 12th May
NEW DELHI : Indian Railways plans to gradually restart passenger train operations from 12th May, 2020, initially with 15 pairs of trains (30 return journeys), says Ministry of Railways. Tickets will only be available through the IRCTC website, with ticket counters (including those for platform tickets) at all stations to remain closed.
These trains will be run as special trains from New Delhi Station connecting Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, , Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad, Thiruvananthapuramand Jammu Tawi. IRCTC ticket window to to open from 4 p.m. on May 11.
Passenger services, suspended since the coronavirus lockdown that began March 25, will start with 15 “special” trains (total of 30 journeys) departing from New Delhi Railway Station and connecting cities in Assam, Bengal, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jammu, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Tripura.
Only passengers with confirmed and valid tickets will be allowed to enter the station at Delhi, the Railways warned, adding that all passengers would also have to wear face masks, under screening at departure (only those without COVID-19 symptoms will be allowed to board) and maintain social distancing at all times.
Post this, Indian Railways will start more special services on new routes, based on the available coaches after reserving 20,000 coaches for COVID-19 care centres as well as to enable operation of up to 300 trains everyday as “Shramik Special” for stranded migrants.
