10 Important Things To Know If You Are Booking A Train Ticket Today!

NEW DELHI: The Indian Railways on Sunday said that it will run fully air conditioned passenger trains from Tuesday (May 12) after about two months of shutting the service in its 167-year history due to COVID-19 lockdown.

In an official statement on Sunday, the government said that initially 15 set of trains will be started and online bookings for these will begin from 4 pm on Monday (May 11) on the website of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

So, if you are planning to book online tickets and travel, here are the important things you should keep in mind.

1. Online booking for the special trains will begin from 4 PM today, 11 May 2020.

2. There are 15 pairs of trains which are available right now. These are: New Delhi connecting Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi

3. Fares will be equivalent to that of Rajdhani trains and all trains will be having AC coaches only.

4. Booking will only be done through the official website Indian Railways.

5. No tickets including platform tickets will be sold through counters in railway stations and counters will remain closed.

6. Tatkal booking are not available and only passengers with a valid, confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter railway stations.

7. It is mandatory for all the passengers to wear protective gear such as a face mask. They will also have to undergo screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train.

8. To maintain social distancing a limited number of passengers will be allowed. Such as:

• In AC three-tier coaches-52 passengers will be allowed
• In AC two-tier coaches- 48 passengers will be allowed

9. The trains will be running run with limited stoppage and no blankets or linen will be provided.

10. Special norms for air conditioning will be followed inside the train and the temperatures will be set higher than usual.

Gradually, the Railways will add new routes, based on available coaches after reserving 20,000 coaches for Covid-19 care centres and these added special trains will have both AC and non-AC coaches.

Also Read: Indian Railways To Begin Online Booking On May 11 At 4 PM