(Kajal Singh intern journalist):
• Ticket booking window will remain closed at railway stations, no counter ticket including platform ticket will be issued.
• Booking for reservation in trains will start at 4 pm today. Booking can be done only through the IRCTC website.
New Delhi: Amidst the ongoing coronavirus crisis in the country, the Railway Ministry has taken a big decision. Tomorrow i.e. from May 12, the railways will run on 15 selected routes. Online booking will begin on the IRCTC website for the journey from 4 pm today. Railways have also issued several guidelines to travel by rail. Passenger must go to the station one hour before the journey. Railways have said that now blanket sheets and towels will not be available in AC coaches. All passenger train services have been closed since March 25 due to the nationwide lockdown.
Tickets will not be available from the ticket counter
Ticket booking window will remain closed at railway stations, no counter ticket including platform ticket will be issued. Initially, 15 pairs of trains (30 trains including up-and-down) will be run on selected routes. Passengers who have reserved seats on these trains will have to reach the railway station at least one hour before the departure time. Initially, air-conditioned services will start on all 15 Rajdhani trains and their fare will be the same as super-fast trains.
Where will the train go now?
These special trains will run from New Delhi railway station and will go to Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu-Tawi. Unlike the labor trains, booking of all 72 seats will be done in the coaches of these trains and there is no possibility of any relaxation in their fares. A maximum of 54 passengers is allowed to travel in one compartment in labor special trains.
Stamps will say ‘Do’s and Don’ts
Booking for reservations on these trains will start at four o’clock this evening. Booking can be done only through the IRCTC website. ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ will be clearly written on the tickets received during reservation. It will also include guidelines, such as arriving at the railway station at least one hour in advance, a medical checkup at the departure point, other protocols related to coronavirus infection, mandatory use of masks, and downloading the Arogya Setu App.
Wearing masks and health checkup will be mandatory in travel
Only valid reserved ticket holders will be allowed to enter the railway station. It will be mandatory for passengers to wear masks and health check-up at the departure point, only those people will be allowed to board the train, which will not show any signs of infection with the virus. During the journey, the train will stop at very few stations.
The temperature of the AC coaches will be kept slightly higher
To prevent the spread of coronavirus infection, people traveling in these trains will not be provided blankets, sheets, and towels, etc. These trains will have special rules for air conditioning, the temperature will be kept slightly higher than normal days and maximum fresh air supply will be ensured within the coaches.
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