India / All trains cancelled till May 3, e-ticket holders to get refunds automatically

NEW DELHI : After Prime Minister Narendra Modi extended the nationwide lockdown till May 3, the Indian Railways not only also extended the suspension of all its passenger services during the period but also suspended all ticket bookings.

The Ministry of Railways said all passenger train services including premium trains, Mail/Express trains, Passenger trains, Suburban Trains, Kolkata Metro Rail, Konkan Railway etc shall continue to remain suspended till the midnight of 3rd May.

All ticket bookings will remain suspended till further orders, the Railways said adding that no advance reservation of trains tickets, including e-tickets, can be made till further orders. The online train ticket cancellation facility remains functional.

Train passengers will get full refund for all reservation made for trains cancelled till May 3.

"For trains cancelled by Indian Railways, full refund will be provided automatically by IRCTC. Users need not cancel their e-tickets. Full fare will be credited back into users accounts from which payment was made," IRCTC said.

Pointing out towards the rules of cancellation of all passenger train tickets the ministry said, all counters for booking of rail journey tickets for reserved or unreserved travel at railway stations and outside railway station premises shall remain closed upto May 3.

The Railway Board has also issued instructions to the zones that full refunds for fares of cancelled trains should be initiated by them. "No advance reservations shall be made till further notice," it said.

The railways said that passengers could claim a full refund for all trains cancelled in this period till June 21. The Indian Railways operates around 9,000 passenger trains and 3,000 mail express services daily.

Services of over 13,600 passenger, mail and express trains were earlier suspended between March 24 and April 14 to combat the spread of Covid-19.

The Indian Railways has been running parcel special trains since the start of the lockdown to ensure the supply of perishable commodities including fruits, vegetables, milk and dairy products and seeds for agriculture purpose. Freight trains are also running.

The railways has already converted 5,000 coaches into isolation wards for Covid-19 patients and plans to add another 15,000 coaches to the list.