Southern Railway willre-introduce unreserved coaches in three pairs of special trains from November.
A statement said that four unreserved coaches each would be available in Train No. 02628 / 02627 Thiruvananthapuram - Tiruchi - Thiruvananthapuram Intercity Express and Train No. 06850 / 06849 Rameswaram - Tiruchi - Rameswaram special trains with effect from November 1.
Similarly, four unreserved coaches will be restored in Train No. 06321 / 06322 Nagercoil - Coimbatore - Nagercoil day-time special train from November 10.
Passengers can travel by these trains with unreserved tickets. Indian Railway had converted the unreserved coaches into reserved coaches when train services were resumed after the lockdown in March 2020 following the outbreak of COVID-19. Passengers with reserved tickets alone were allowed in coaches to enable tracing of train passengers during the pandemic.
Unreserved coaches in other trains would be re-introduced in the coming days as advance booking of the now reserved coaches have been done in good numbers for the next few weeks, a railway official said. However, special fare for the unreserved tickets will continue, he added.
Partial cancellation
Meanwhile, Train No. 06791 Tirunelveli - Palakkad Palaruvi special train scheduled to leave Tirunelveli on Wednesday and Train No. 06792 Palakkad - Tirunelveli Palaruvi special train scheduled to leave Palakkad on Thursday have been partially cancelled between Thrissur and Palakkad railway stations to facilitate track maintenance work between Vallathol Nagar and Vadakkancheri stations, another statement said.