Trains to run again on tracks

News Desk

Indian railways will restart train services, from Tuesday, but only a pair of 15 trains connecting few stations and with a lots of riders for the passengers.

The ticket booking counters at the railway stations will remains shut and bookings may be done only via IRCTC website to begin from Monday 4 pm. But before you step inside station, only with a valid ticket and ID, it will be mandatory for the passengers to wear face cover and undergo screening. ‘Only the asymptomatic passengers, means those with no sign of illness will be allowed to board the train even if they have a ticket,’ says the new set of rule.

A total of 30 train journeys – 15 pairs of return trips – will run from New Delhi railway station to other cities including Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai. These trains will be run as special trains connecting Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Thiruvananthapuram, Ahmedabad, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, and Jammu Tawi, railway ministry said. The trains will have only a few stoppages.

No one will be allowed to come to platform to see off passengers as done in normal days. No platform tickets will be sold. Similar to that of the airports only passengers with valid ticket will be allowed to step inside the platform after they pass screening test by a medical team.

Later more special services on new routes shall start. It will be mandatory for the passengers to wear face cover and undergo screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train.

During lockdown a limited number of trains have been operating in recent days to help the stranded poor and rural migrant workers who lost jobs in the lockdown to return to their native places. The country has plans to lift lockdown on May 17.