The Indian Railways is set to get back on track. The government announced on Sunday that the railways would resume its passenger services from May 12. Initially, 15 pairs of trains will operate from New Delhi to 15 different destinations. Booking of tickets will be available from May 11 from 6 PM on the IRCTC website. This decision will be a sigh of relief for many passengers who want to return to their homes.

Railways – a big source of revenue

The services of passenger trains were scrapped in the wake of the deadly COVID-19 outbreak and the nationwide lockdown to contain the virus. It is a good step by the India Railways to ferry passengers from one place to another to boost the economy of the country which is staggering amid lockdown as Railways is a big source for generating huge revenue in the country.

Here’s the list of trains which are likely to begin from May 12:

1. New Delhi to Dibrugarh
2. New Delhi to Agartala
3. New Delhi to Howrah
4. New Delhi to Patna
5. New Delhi to Bilaspur
6. New Delhi to Ranchi
7. New Delhi to Bhubaneswar
8. New Delhi to Secunderabad
9. New Delhi to Bengaluru
10. New Delhi to Chennai
11. New Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram
12. New Delhi to Madgaon
13. New Delhi to Mumbai Central
14. New Delhi to Ahmedabad
15. New Delhi to Jammu Tawi

Key facts about the restart of partial train services

• There is no provision of Tatkal and premium Tatkal accommodation.
• Ticket counters at railway stations or IRCTC counters will remain closed.
• Ticket agents have no role to play; the government has made it clear that tickets through agents will not be entertained.
• Platform tickets will remain suspended.
• Passengers carrying valid confirmed tickets will be permitted to go inside the railway stations for boarding the train.
• Face masks or face covers and other safety gadgets are essential for all passengers.
• Before the departure of any train passengers, they will be first screened at the railway station; only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board on train and travel.
• All the trains will have only air-conditioned (AC coaches), no place for general and sleeper coaches at the moment.
• Fare charge would be equivalent to the premium Rajdhani trains.

 

Resumption of train services is a big step towards the restoration of normalcy. The government is planning to resume special trains on other routes as well. Currently, a large number of railway coaches are being used as COVID-19 care centres. Further, details regarding the train scheduled and others are awaited.