Rush for tickets, guidelines issued for passenger trains
NEW DELHI: Passengers boarding special trains will have to arrive at stations at least 90 minutes before their journeys begin and are advised to carry their own food, the government said in fresh guidelines on Monday, a day before the gradual resumption of the services connecting New Delhi and 15 other cities after a gap of nearly two months.
Indian Railways also released a timetable for these trains, which will run only with air-conditioned (AC) coaches and have full seating capacity, and specified the stoppages they will make.
Bookings began at 6pm after a two-hour delay due to technical issues. The railway ministry regretted the “inconvenience”, and said data on the special trains was “being fed” into the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website.
In the fresh guidelines, the railways encouraged passengers to download the Aarogya Setu app for effective contact tracing and follow social distancing both at stations and in trains.
“The passengers shall reach the station at least 90 minutes in advance to facilitate thermal screening at the station. Only passengers who are found asymptomatic (not showing symptoms of Covid-19) will be permitted to travel,” the guidelines said.
Passengers with valid tickets will not need any additional pass to travel to railway stations.