On Sunday, Indian railways informed about their plans to restart passenger services but in a phased manner from May 12. Almost 50 days after revoking the services, 15 pairs of trains will run on the track initially.
This strategic announcement has been made despite the lockdown till May 17 to ensure the safety and convenience of those who want to reach back to their respective hometowns.
Table of Contents
List of trains and connecting stations
To begin with, the 15 pairs of trains, meaning a total of 30 return journeys, would be run as special trains:-
Delhi station connecting Dibrugarh,
Delhi station connecting Agartala,
Delhi station connecting Howrah,
Delhi station connecting Patna,
Delhi station connecting Bilaspur,
Delhi station connecting Ranchi,
Delhi station connecting Bhubaneswar,
Delhi station connecting Secunderabad,
Delhi station connecting Bengaluru,
Delhi station connecting Chennai,
Delhi station connecting Thiruvananthapuram,
Delhi station connecting Madgaon,
Delhi station connecting Mumbai Central,
Delhi station connecting Ahmedabad and
Delhi station connecting Jammu Tawi.
After the resumption of these trains, more special trains will be started on new routes bt railways, “based on the available coaches after reserving 20,000 coaches for COVID-19 care centers and an adequate number of coaches being reserved to enable operation of up to 300 trains every day as ‘Shramik Specials’ for stranded migrants,” conveyed an official statement.
Mode/ procedure of reservation
The reservation procedure will start from 11 May by 4 p.m. and can be done only through the official website of IRCTC. Ticket booking counters at stations will remain shut and no counter tickets or platform tickets will be issued.
“Only passengers with valid confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter the stations,” the railways said. It would be mandatory for passengers to wear face cover and undergo screening at departure. “Only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train,” said an official.
Only AC coaches to run
Only AC coaches would be run charging a fare equivalent to Rajdhani trains, as per a railway spokesperson.
Schedule of train and other details will be issued in a short time
A total of 366 ‘Shramik Special’ trains had been run till Sunday afternoon, as per the separate release made by the railways.
These trains were meant to ferry migrants to Tiruchirappalli, Titlagarh, Barauni, Khandwa, Jagannathpur, Khurda Road, Prayagraj, Chhapra, Balia, Gaya, Purnia, Varanasi, Darbhanga, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Jaunpur, Hatia, Basti, Katihar, Danapur, Muzaffarpur, and Saharsa.
“In these trains, a maximum of around 1,200 passengers can travel observing social distancing. Proper screening of passengers is ensured before boarding the train. During the journey, passengers are given free meals and water,” the railways said.
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~ Divya
news source: The Hindu
