Indian Railways bookings service shut for 6 hours till Nov 21. Details here

The Indian Railways said the steps will be implemented during night hours in order to minimise the impact on ticketing service.

The Indian Railways has said it will close its reservation system for six hours every night till November 21 in order to normalise passenger services and revert to pre-Covid times in a phased manner.

Indian Railways' Passenger Reservation System (PRS) services will not be available during these six hours.  (HT FIle Photo)

"The activity will be performed starting from the intervening night of November 14 and 15 to the night of November 20 and 21, starting at 23:30 hours and ending at 0530 hrs," the railways ministry said on Sunday.

The ministry that the move will enable the upgradation of system data, new train numbers and other work.

"Since a huge amount of past (old train numbers) and current passenger booking data is to be updated in all mail/express trains, this is being planned in a series of carefully calibrated steps and implemented during night hours in order to minimise the impact on ticketing services,” it said.

Passenger Reservation System (PRS) services like ticket reservation, current booking, cancellation, enquiry services, among others, will not be available during these six hours.

All other enquiry services, including 139 services, will continue uninterrupted, the ministry noted. The railways will ensure advance charting for the trains to start during the affected timings.

The Indian Railways has said it will discontinue the 'special' tag for mail and express trains and revert to pre-pandemic ticket prices with immediate effect.

The curbs introduced in view of the pandemic such as temporary restrictions on concessions, bedrolls and meal services, would continue to be in effect.