New normal for rail travel: No linen, only packaged food, arrival at least 90 min early at stations

New Delhi, May 11

Special trains that will resume services from May 12 will only have AC classes, the Indian Railways said on Monday.

The Railways has issued new protocols for passenger for travel from May 12, saying no linen will be provided to them, only packaged food and hand-sanitisers will be made available, and travellers are required to reach stations at least 90 minutes before departure.

It also said all passengers must wear face masks during the journey.

The Railways, which had announced to resume a limited number of passenger services after an almost a 50-day hiatus, said the 15 trains to run from Tuesday would be air-conditioned and will run on full-capacity on the Rajdhani route from Delhi to all the major cities of the country.

The fares will be equivalent to the Rajdhani fares.

Since the trains will be operated amidst the lockdown, only those passengers with confirmed e-tickets shall be allowed to enter the station, an MHA order stated.

Passengers, however, can book these trains up to seven days in advance.

Online cancellation shall be permitted up to 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the train with cancellation charges being 50 per cent of the fare.

Fare for the trains, which will begin from New Delhi station connecting Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi---will be the same as regularly scheduled Rajdhanis.

Passengers will have to download and use the Aarogya Setu application.

The development comes a day after Indian Railways said it was restarting train services on certain routes almost two months after trains were suspended as the country went into lockdown to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Bookings will be open only on the IRCTC website (https://www.irctc.co.in/).

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