Passenger trains to start running from Tuesday; online booking begins today

It will be mandatory for the passengers to wear masks and undergo screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the trains.

The Indian Railways will gradually restart passenger train operations from May 12, initially with 15 pairs of trains, the railways ministry said on Sunday.

Passenger train operations have been shut since the lockdown began on March 25. (HT Photo)

These 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.

Thereafter, Indian Railways shall start more special services on new routes, based on the available coaches after reserving 20,000 coaches for Covid-19 care centres and adequate number of coaches being reserved to enable operation of up to 300 trains everyday as Shramik Special for stranded migrants.

The booking for reservation in these trains will start at 4 pm on Monday and will be available only on the IRCTC website. Ticket booking counters at the railway stations shall remain closed and no counter tickets (including platform tickets) shall be issued. Only passengers with valid confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter the railway stations.

All coaches will be AC and fares will be equivalent of Rajdhani AC class fare .

It will be mandatory for the passengers to wear masks and undergo screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to enter the railway station and board the trains.

Passenger train operations have been shut since the lockdown began on March 25.