Passengers looking to travel by ‘special trains’ to be run by the railways from Tuesday will need to reach stations 90 minutes before the departure time, wear masks, and preferably bring their own food as well as linen and travel light, as per the guidelines issued on Monday.
Till 1930 hrs on Monday, more than 18,000 tickets were booked, the Railways said.
By 9:15 pm, almost three hours after the booking was opened, approximately 30,000 PNRs were generated and reservation was issued to more than 54,000 passengers, a Railways spokesperson said.
The railways on Sunday announced plans to start 15 pairs of special trains May 12 onwards as part of plans to restart the passenger service gradually.
Also read:IRCTC website not opening, booking for 15 special trains pushed to 18:00 hours now
The bookings for these trains from New Delhi to Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi, were to commence at 4 p.m. on Monday. However, this had to be pushed by two hours as the “data pertaining to special trains” was not updated on the IRCTC website.
These trains will have only air-conditioned classes i.e. first AC, second AC and third AC and tickets can be booked only via the IRCTC website or mobile application. Passengers will not be able to book either via the reservation counter or through ‘agents’.
In addition, the advance reservation period for tickets has been kept at a maximum of seven days and only confirmed e-tickets will be booked. Booking of RAC/Waiting List ticket and onboard booking by ticket checking staff will not be permitted.
“Current booking, tatkal and premium tatkal booking shall not be permitted. No Unreserved tickets (UTS) shall be permitted,” the railways said. “For movement of the passenger(s) as well as the driver of the vehicle transporting the passenger(s) to and fro the railway station will be allowed on the basis of the confirmed e-ticket.”
The fare structure of the ‘special trains’ will be equal to that of the Rajdhani trains excluding catering charges. While the provision for pre-paid meal booking and e-catering will be disabled, “dry, ready-to-eat food and bottled water will be provided on demand, inside the trains on payment basis...Passengers are encouraged to carry their own food and drinking water.”
Online cancellation of tickets will be permitted only upto 24 hours before the scheduled train departure with cancellation charge of 50% of the fare.
Compulsory screening
All passengers, the railways said, would be compulsorily screened and only asymptomatic passengers allowed to enter and board trains. They would also need to wear face masks and observe social distancing. No linens, blankets or curtains will be provided inside the train and passengers have been advised to carry their own linen.
“The temperature inside the coaches shall be suitably regulated for this purpose,” the railways said.
Additionally, the railways have also advised passengers to download and use the government’s Aarogya Setu application. Further, no stalls or booths on the platforms will be opened and no train side vending will be permitted. “Passengers are advised to travel light.”
The zonal railways have been instructed to ensure that there are separate entry and exit gates at railway stations to the extent feasible so that there is no face to face movement of passengers.
