India / Passenger train services to remain suspended till May 17: Railways

The Financial Express : May 02, 2020, 09:53 AM
New Delhi: Important alert for Indian Railways passengers! With the Narendra Modi government extending the COVID-19 nationwide lockdown by two weeks to May 17, all regular passenger trains by the national transporter will remain cancelled. According to the latest guidelines issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs, all rail, air, metro and inter-state movement by road will remain suspended. Movement of individuals by trains or any other mode such as air or buses will only be allowed for select purposes – such as the movement of stranded migrant labourers, tourists, students and pilgrims.

Indian Railways has already suspended its advance train ticket reservation until further clarity on the COVID-19 lockdown situation. All railway passengers are being provided full refund for their train tickets cancelled for journeys booked for the lockdown period. Today, Indian Railways announced the running of six Shramik special trains to transport stranded labourers, students, pilgrims and tourists. These special trains are being run on the requests of the various state governments. The fare for these special trains would be: Fare for Sleeper Mail Express train + Superfast Charge (Rs 30) + additional charge of Rs 20. This includes meals and drinking water for long-distance trains. According to the Railway Ministry, the fares will be paid by the state government and not the passengers.

After the Janta curfew on March 22, PM Modi had announced the first phase of lockdown from March 25 to April 14. This lockdown was further extended till May 3. From May 4 to May 17, the third phase of the lockdown comes with considerable relaxations for those districts in the country that have been declared as green zones. There are some relaxations in movements for zones which are Orange, and none for the red zones.

However, the Ministry of Home Affairs has clearly stated that irrespective of whatever zone a district falls under, the operations of rail, metro, air and inter-state buses will remain suspended till May 17.

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