Indian Railways resumes operation of passenger trains; here's all you need to know
Indian Railways on Sunday said that it will "gradually" restart the operations of passenger trains from Tuesday as the country eases the coronavirus lockdown. The Ministry of Railways stated that "Indian Railways plans to gradually restart passenger train operations from May 12, initially with 15 pairs of trains (30 return journeys)." It added that "It will be mandatory for the passengers to wear face cover and undergo screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train. Further details including the train schedule will be issued separately in due course." "All passenger trains will be run with AC coaches only and with limited stoppages. The fare will be equivalent to the ticket fare that is charged for Rajdhani Train," it added. Meanwhile, the booking for the reservation on these trains will start at 4 pm on May 11 (Monday). The tickets can be booked only online through the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website or its mobile app. The booking of tickets through the agents (both IRCTC and railway) is not allowed. https://www.facebook.com/ptcnewsonline/videos/543592113192164/?t=1 The trains will be run as special trains from New Delhi station connecting Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad, and Jammu Tawi. Also Read | COVID-19: Health Ministry issues revised guidelines for home isolation As per the report, the Railways will start more special services on new routes after the resumption of these 15 services, based on the availability of coaches after reserving 20,000 coaches for coronavirus care centres and adequate numbers to enable operation of up to 300 trains every day as “Shramik Special” for stranded migrants. -PTC News