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Indian Railways has made it clear that it will not run the regular trains till June 30 as it wanted to send a message to those passengers who have not yet cancelled their tickets in the wake of Covid-19 pandemic.
More so, when it has decided to “gradually” resume service in a trimmed version by using the special AC train route to run trains connecting State capitals.
Already, several people have been reluctant to travel and had resorted to cancelling their train tickets due to the fear of novel coronavirus. This decision by the Railways will allow people, if they still need to travel, to try for tickets in the newer special trains by taking the refund and redeploying it to fund their travel plans.
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Railways to cancel tickets for regular trains till June 30
However, Shramik Specials will continue to runA source said that it appears unlikely that normal train service will start beyond June 30. “While the decision is taken till June 30, Railways is unlikely to resume its normal service for a longer duration,” added the official.
There are concerns from Health Ministry officials on the effect that people to people movement through trains is having on the spread of Covid-19 as each train moves roughly one thousand people. Also, all State governments have to be on-board and prepare accordingly.
Waitlist to restart
Meanwhile, after Railways resumed special AC train service without waitlist, it has now decided to permit waitlist in special trains — both AC and non-AC — soon. This is because the Railways is seeing some last-minute cancellations, while there is a high rush for tickets even in pricier segments of trains.
“For special trains that run from May 22 and tickets for which can be booked from May 15, Railways has allowed select number of wait-listed tickets. Also, railways has decided that if someone is unable to travel due to high fever or novel coronavirus-like symptoms, the passenger can get full refund.”
Both the decisions were taken in a late evening meeting on Wednesday.
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