Amid spike in COVID-19 cases and cancellation of several trains due to poor patronage, Tiruchi railway divisional authorities have restricted passenger reservation system (PRS) counters to 14 locations under its jurisdiction.
Tiruchi junction being a major railway station, there will be two PRS counters. In the remaining locations, there will be one PRS counter.
The move comes into effect on Tuesday after nod from Southern Railway headquarters. The communication has already been conveyed to railway commercial department officials, said a senior railway official here.
Other PRS counters will function from Ariyalur, Vriddhachalam, Villupuram, Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Karaikal, Nagapattinam, Tiruvarur, Mannargudi, Mayiladuthurai, Tirupadripuliyur, Puducherry and Srirangam. Reservation as well as cancellation can be done at the counter. At Tiruchi junction, one will be for reservation and the other for cancellation.
The counters will function from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. with the staff working in shifts. At TiruchijJunction, the current booking counter will operate round the clock.
The move to reduce the PRS counters has been taken in the wake of cancellation of several trains due to poor occupancy, rapid rise in COVID-19 cases and consideration of safety and health of employees.
The number of PRS locations may be reduced further depending on cancellation of trains. All other PRS/IUTS counters will remain closed up to May 24 as there are no unreserved trains in operation in Tiruchi Division.
Southern Railway recently cancelled Tiruchi-Thiruvananthapuram-Tiruchi Intercity specials (02627/28); Karaikudi-Chennai Egmore-Karaikudi (02606/05), Tiruchi-Chennai Egmore- Tiruchi (02654/53), Puducherry- Chennai Egmore -Puducherry (06116/15), Tiruchi-Palakkad Town-Tiruchi (06843/44) and Mannargudi-Tirupati-Mannargudi specials (07408/07). All these trains with reserved coaches were cancelled due to poor patronage.
The unreserved trains cancelled due to poor patronage are Puducherry - Chennai - Puducherry, Villupuram- Tambaram-Villupuram, Vriddhachalam - Salem - Vriddhachalam, Tiruchi - Karur - Tiruchi, Tiruchi - Karaikudi - Tiruchi and Villupuram - Madurai - Villupuram passengers.
