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Food stalls to be allowed on railway platforms from June 1
Owners will have to take care of social distancing norms and wear masks and gloves while serving passengers
Railway authorities have decided to allow stalls selling food and books, besides food courts to start functioning on the platforms from June 1, when 200 passenger trains are set to resume operations, eight pairs of which will run on Punjab route.
The decision was taken by the railway board for the convenience of passengers. However, there are certain guidelines which need to be followed by the stall owners.
Senior divisional commercial manager (DCM) Vivek Sharma said that at railways stations, passengers usually follow the ‘take away’ system and most stations do not have a dinning facility. So stall owners will work the same way but they will have to take care of social distancing at their stall. Besides, it will also be mandatory for them to wear masks and gloves.
Sharma added that at stations like Ludhiana and Amritsar where there are food courts, the staff will have to get the food packed for passengers.
He added that the license fee for the period the stalls remained closed, will not be charged from stall owners.
ONLY PASSENGERS WITH TICKETS WILL BE ALLOWED INSIDE
The reservation for trains resuming from June 1 has already started and this time, seats are being reserved even for general coaches as only those passengers with confirmed tickets are being allowed inside. No unreserved tickets (general tickets) are being sold at the counters.
Moreover, the berths are not available on the trains. There are over 300 passengers on the wait list.
Besides, the bookings for Saryu Yamuna Express to be running on June 1 and June 3 has been closed as there are already a large number of passengers on the wait-list. For the train for June 6, there are over 445 passengers on wait-list for sleeper coach in Saryu Yamuna Express. Similar were the status of other trains as well.
Senior DCM Vivek Sharma said that the chart of a train is released four hours before the departure of the train from the station. So passengers whose seats are not be confirmed will know four hours in advance so that they don’t come to the station unnecessarily.
He added that all passengers will be properly screened before being allowed to board the train and TTEs have also been directed to avoid close contact with passengers. “Although, passengers with confirmed tickets will be allowed to board the train but still TTEs will still come for checking. They have been provided gloves, masks and sanitisers,” he said.
