The ministry of railways announced 15 Rajdhani train routes commencing from New Delhi from tomorrow
In a major decision to ease the nationwide lockdown, put on March 25, the government announced 15 new interstate passenger train routes starting from New Delhi, to gradually restart the operations from May 12. The trains will run from the capital to Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi.
According to the railway ministry, all air-conditioned services will commence on 15 Rajdhani routes, not just for stranded migrant workers but all for passengers and the fare would be equivalent to that of the super-fast train. “Indian Railways plans to gradually restart passenger train operations from 12th May 2020, initially with 15 pairs of trains. These trains will be run as special trains from New Delhi Station connecting 15 important cities of the country”, Ministry of Railways tweeted on May 10.
The Ministry of Railways further said that train reservations will start from May 11 4 pm IST on the IRCTC website and the booking counters at the railway stations shall remain closed as per social distancing norms. It further stated that passengers need to have “valid confirmed tickets” to enter the station premises. Wearing masks and following social distancing protocols will be mandatory and the passengers will undergo screening before departure. “Only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train,” the statement said.
The statement also said that the Ministry will start the remaining train services, after reserving coaches for coronavirus isolation wards and special Shramik trains. “Indian Railways shall start more special services on new routes, based on the available coaches after reserving 20,000 coaches for COVID-19 care centres and adequate number of coaches being reserved to enable operation of up to 300 trains every day as “Shramik Special” for stranded migrants”, the official statement mentioned.
