Online Bookings Open Today For Passenger Trains From June 1

The railways today said bookings for 200 regular passenger trains will open from 10 am tomorrow on the IRCTC website or through its app. These trains will run from June 1 and include both air-conditioned and non-AC coaches, the railways said in a statement, a day after it said only non-AC passenger trains would run.

People can book tickets online up to two hours before departure, and can also buy tickets only 30 days maximum in advance. They must reach the train station 90 minutes before departure, the railways said.

The railways said reservation against cancellation or RAC, in which two people share the same berth, and waitlisted tickets will be available. But those with waitlisted tickets that are not confirmed after the passengers' charts have been prepared cannot board trains.

While food stalls at all stations will be open, only takeaways are allowed.

These 200 passenger trains are in addition to special "Shramik" trains being run since May 1 to take migrants home and special AC trains - 30 of them - being run since May 12, the railways said.

The decision to run these passenger trains also comes days after the centre extended the coronavirus lockdown for a third time but lifted the bar on bus service and other public transport. The final decision in terms of implementation was left to the states.

Passengers will be screened for COVID-19 infection before boarding and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to travel. Symptomatic passengers will get full refund of their tickets. Everyone should wear masks and have the COVID-19 contact-tracing app Aarogya Setu installed in their mobiles.

There are concessions for differently abled and 11 other categories, the railways said. No linen, blankets and curtains will be given in the trains.

Before the lockdown, the railways operated around 12,000 trains every day. Since May 1, it ran 366 special trains for migrant workers from different corners of the country.