Railway e-ticket booking suspended

After a large group of migrant workers gathered outside Bandra railway station on Tuesday afternoon, the Indian Railways has decided to suspend online bookings for

After a large group of migrant workers gathered outside Bandra railway station on Tuesday afternoon, the Indian Railways has decided to suspend online bookings for its outstation trains.

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Though the railways had shut the booking counters outside railway stations ahead of the nationwide lockdown, people could make online booking during the lockdown period for train journeys after April 14.

The Railways, through Indian Rail Catering Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), issued a circular on the cancellation of bookings and the refund on e-tickets. “There will be no advance reservation of train tickets, including e-tickets, till further advice. However, facility of online cancellation will remain functional.” said the statement.

Passenger associations have blamed the Railways’ online booking service for the gathering of migrant workers in Bandra. “The online booking section should have been shut during the first 21-day lockdown period. This is the fault of the railway ministry. They created hope among people that they would be able to go back to their hometowns and this led to the gathering,” said Subhash Gupta, president, Rail Yatri Parishad.

An internal letter by South Central Railway regarding a proposal to operate Jansadharan special trains for stranded migrant workers was also widely shared on social media. “The decision on train operations can be taken only by the railway ministry. The letter was an internal one on planning operation of trains only if the lockdown was lifted. No such decision was taken,” said an official from the Railway Board, the apex body of all zonal railways.

South Central Railway issued a statement claiming the letter had been misinterpreted and was based on internal planning. “A communication related to internal planning of South Central Railway to assess demand for train services is being misinterpreted in some sections as a decision to run special trains for migrant labourers. There is no such proposal and all passenger trains stand cancelled till May 3, 2020,” the statement read.