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New Delhi : Ministry of Railways (MoR) in consultation with Ministry of Health & Family welfare (MoHFW) and Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) has decided that train services on Indian Railways shall be further partially restored w.e.f. from June 1, 2020. Railways will start operations of 200 passenger services. These trains shall run from June 1, 2020, and booking for all these trains will commence from 10 am on May 21, 2020.
These special services shall be in addition to the existing Shramik special trains being run since May 1, 2020, and Special AC trains (30 trains) being run since May 12, 2020. Other regular Passenger services including all mail/express, passenger and suburban services shall remain cancelled until further advice.
Train Type: Special trains on the pattern of Regular Trains : These will be fully reserved trains having both AC & Non AC classes. General (GS) coaches shall also have reserved seat for sitting. 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.
Booking of Tickets & Charting: Only online E-Ticketing will be done through IRCTC website or through Mobile App. No tickets will be booked across the reservation counter on any Railway Station. Booking of tickets through ‘agents’, (both IRCTC Agents and Railway Agents) shall not be permitted; The ARP (advance reservation period) shall be maximum 30 days; RAC and Wait list will be generated as per extant rules, however, waiting list ticket holders shall not be permitted to board the train; No unreserved (UTS) tickets will be issued and no tickets will be issued onboard to any passenger during the journey; No tatkal and premium tatkal booking shall be permitted in these trains; First chart shall be prepared at least 4 hours before scheduled departure and second chart shall be prepared at least 2 hours (unlike present practice of 30 minutes) before scheduled departure. Only online current booking shall be permitted in between first and second chart preparation.
All passengers shall be compulsorily screened and only asymptomatic passengers are allowed to enter /board the train. All passengers must wear face covers/masks at the entry and during travel.The passengers shall reach the station at-least 90 minutes in advance to facilitate thermal screening at the station. Passengers shall observe social distancing both at the station and on trains. On arrival at their destination, the travelling passengers will have to adhere to such health protocols as prescribed by the destination state/UT.
Quota Permitted: All quotas shall be permitted in these special trains as has been permitted in Regular trains. Limited number of reservation (PRS) counters shall be operated for this purpose. However, normal ticket booking cannot be done through these counters.
Catering: No catering charges shall be included in the fare. Provision for pre paid meal booking, e-catering shall be disabled. However, IRCTC shall make provision for limited eatables and packaged drinking water on payment basis only in limited trains, having Pantry car attached. Passengers are encouraged to carry their own food and drinking water.
All static catering and vending units (Multi Purpose stalls, Bookstalls, Misc./Chemist stalls etc) at Railway stations will remain open. In case of Food Plaza and Refreshments rooms etc, cooked items may be served as take away only with no sit-down eating arrangements in place.
Linen and Blanket: No Linen, blankets and curtains shall be provided inside the train. Passengers are advised to carry their own linen for the travel. The temperature inside AC coaches shall be suitably regulated for this purpose.
Zonal Railways have been instructed to ensure that there are separate entry and exit gates at Railway stations to the extent feasible so that there is no face to face movement of passengers. Zonal railways will be guided by standard social distancing guidelines on stations and trains and observe the safety, security and hygiene protocols. All passengers must download and use the Aarogya Setu application.
As per MHA guidelines, the movement of the passenger(s) as well as the driver of the vehicle transporting the passenger(s) to and fro the Railway Station shall be allowed on the basis of the confirmed e-ticket, according to a PIB release.