The Indian Railways has announced that the train services, which were barred since PM Modi announced a nation-wide lockdown of the country, will gradually resume. In the first phase, 15 special trains will run.
More details on train services resuming:
* Train services resume on 15 Rajdhani routes for now. The trains will be fully air-conditioned and will run on full capacity unlike the Shramik Special trains that were running with reduced capacity.
* Train ticket reservation will start on May 11 from 4 pm on the official website of IRCTC.
* Reservation can be made only through the IRCTC website or on the mobile app from Monday onwards. Booking of tickets from agents will not be allowed.
* Ticket counter services are banned. No tickets will be issued from counters, including platform tickets. Only passengers with confirmed train tickets will be allowed to enter the stations.
* For now, there's no provision of Tatkal and premium Tatkal bookings.
* Ticket fare for the Rajdhani trains will be as per the rate of super-fast trains. No concession in fare is likely to be allowed.
* Passengers boarding these special trains will have to arrive at the stations at least 1 hour prior to the departure for checking and other procedure.
* The special Rajdhani trains will run from New Delhi to Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi.
* Detailed instructions for passengers who are boarding the trains will be imprinted on the train tickets.
* It will be mandatory for travellers to wear face covers and undergo screening before the departure. Only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train.
* Passengers may have to carry own blankets for the journey while travelling in these air-conditioned trains to reduce the chances of spread of coronavirus.
* There will be special norms for the air-conditioning inside the coaches and temperatures will be kept slightly higher than the usual and maximum supply of only fresh air will be ensured.
* In AC three-tier coaches, 52 passengers will be allowed while in AC two-tier coaches, 48 passengers will be allowed keeping in mind the protocol of social distancing amid the Covid-19 pandemic.