Regular train tickets scrapped till June 30; spl trains will run

NEWDELHI: Bookings made for regular trains before and during the lockdown for journeys till June 30 stand cancelled and affected passengers will receive full refund, Indian Railways said Thursday.

However, bookings for 15 pairs of special premium trains and those carrying migrant workers to their destinations during the lockdown will continue.

“Regular passenger service including Mail/Express, Passenger and Suburban services have been cancelled until further advice. Competent authority has desired that all tickets booked for the above trains for the period up to 30th June 2020 may be cancelled and full refund generated as per provisions,” a railway ministry order said.

“Tickets booked for May and June must have been booked before lockdown from January to March. We have issued a refund for all,” a railway ministry spokesperson said

Railways said online cancellation and refund facility is available for e-tickets. Those who bought tickets at the counter for journeys will get a six-month window, as against the usual three days, to cancel and get refunds.

The ministry also made it mandatory for passengers boarding premium air-conditioned trains that began plying from May 12, to provide their destination address while booking tickets on IRCTC website or on its app. This means a person returning to his residence in Mumbai from New Delhi will have to provide house address. “With effect May 13, IRCTC has started taking the destination address of all passengers booking tickets. This will help us in contact tracing,” a ministry spokesperson said.

Till Thursday, railways said a total of 800 “Shramik Special” trains, which are ferrying migrant labourers home, have been operated with over one million passengers. The trains started running on May 1.

These trains have terminated in states such as Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur,

Mizoram, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and West Bengal.

Separately, the railways reported 234,411 passenger bookings worth ₹45.30 crore till Wednesday for all 30 premium trains (15 pairs) the government has been running since May 12.

For now, officials are accepting bookings up to seven days in advance. Government also allowed states to arrange buses while maintaining social distancing in order to ferry passengers arriving on trains. The ministry also pointed out it has already allowed such passengers’ journeys to and from stations despite lockdown curbs if they have their e-tickets with them.

For the special passenger trains that have been running, refund rules issued by the ministry will apply.

Online cancellation will be permitted up to 24 hours before scheduled departure, and the cancellation charge shall be 50% of the fare.

In an order issued late on Wednesday night, the Centre also allowed wait-listed tickets to be issued for special passenger trains from May 22. This will be applicable for the bookings beginning May 15. Wait-listed tickets are not allowed at present.

IN AN ORDER LATE WEDNESDAY, CENTRE ALLOWED WAIT-LISTED TICKETS TO BE ISSUED FOR SPL PASSENGER TRAINS FROM MAY 22