TLI Staff
New Delhi: In a big respite for thousands of people stranded in various cities following nationwide lockdown, Indian Railways has announced to run train services from May 12.
“Indian Railways plans to gradually restart passenger train operations from 12th May, 2020, initially with 15 pairs of trains. These trains will be run as special trains from New Delhi Station connecting 15 important cities of the country,” Railways said in an official statement.
The 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.
Indian Railways plans to gradually restart passenger train operations from 12th May, 2020, initially with 15 pairs of trains
These trains will be run as special trains from New Delhi Station connecting 15 important cities of the countryhttps://t.co/tOvEFT1C8Z pic.twitter.com/dvdxKaxshM
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) May 10, 2020
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.
Booking for reservation in these trains will start at 4 pm on 11th May and will be available only on the IRCTC website, the Indian Railways’ ticketing arm.
“Ticket booking counters at the railway stations shall remain closed and no counter tickets (including platform tickets) shall be issued,” the statement said.
Only passengers with valid confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter the railway stations. It will be mandatory for the passengers to wear face cover and undergo screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train.
“Further details including train schedule will be issued separately in due course,” the Railways said.
The government has been relaxing lockdown norms as part of its gradual exit plan and is likely to further ease the conditions after May 17. With train services starting, the government may soon give green signal to operating domestic flights.
“There is possibility of a decision on flight services shortly. The operations could start from third week of May,” an official involved in decision-making said.
Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri had earlier this week indicated that domestic flights could be allowed as early as May 15. Private airlines such as SpiceJet and GoAir have already opened forward booking for select domestic flights.
National carrier Air India is, however, waiting for government permission to open bookings.