Indian Railways To Run 200 Trains From 1 June After Lockdown 4.0 Ends; Bookings Open Now

Indian Railways is going to run 200 trains from 1 June, after phase 4 of the coronavirus lockdown ends, it announced on Wednesday. The bookings commence at 10:00am Thursday (21 May).

The Railways has made it clear that only online e-ticketing facility will be available through IRCTC website or Mobile App. No reservations will be made from the counters on railway stations, it said in a press release.

On Wednesday, Indian Railways had released a list of 100 pairs of trains that will begin operations from 1 June onwards. These trains include Durontos, Sampark Krantis, Jan Shatabdis and Poorva Express.

The tickets can be booked maximum 30 days under advance reservation period (ARP) and RAC or waiting list will be issued based on existing rules. However, it stated that passengers with waiting list ticket will not be allowed to board the train.

Tatkal (Instant) or premium tatkal booking facility will not be available, while no tickets will be sold on board to any passenger.

The Railways said the trains will have both AC and non-AC coaches and also fully reserved coaches. The trains will run on regular-train pattern and will also cover tier 2 cities. There will be no unreserved coach in the train.

Fare shall be as normal and for General (GS) coaches, being reserved, second seating (2S) fare shall be charged and seat will be provided to all the passengers.

Screening to be done before boarding and only asymptomatic passengers are allowed to enter /board the train.

Concessions for four categories of Divyangjan concession and 11 categories of patient concessions are permitted in these special trains. On arrival at their destination, the travelling passengers will have to adhere to such health protocols as are prescribed by the destination state/union territory (UT).

No Linen, blankets and curtains shall be provided inside the train.

The 100 pairs of trains are in addition to 15 special pairs of trains that the Indian Railways has been running since 12 May. It is also running several Shramik special trains to ferry migrant workers.