200 special trains, organised by the Indian Railways, will ply across the country starting today, i.e. June 1, as part of 'Unlock 1' -- the central government's scheme to gradually reopen the country outside of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) containment zones and restart economic activities.
These trains will be "special trains run on the pattern of regular trains" and will cover tier 2 cities and also major state capitals like Mumbai and Kolkata, Railways said.
For a list of trains that are starting services today, read here:
List of 200 (100 pairs) Mail/Express trains to run from 1st June
More than 1.45 lakh passengers have already booked tickets to travel on the starting day, June 1.
Thes trains will un in addition to the existing 'Shramik Special' trains (special trains arranged to help migrant workers return home to their native states) being run from 1st May and the Special AC trains (a total of 30 trains connecting national capital New Delhi to select state capitals around the country) that were being run since 12th May.
The 200 trains that are starting services today, however, are on the pattern of regular trains. These are fully reserved trains having both AC and non-AC classes. The General (GS) coaches have reserved sitting accommodation. There will be no unreserved coach on the train. The normal class wise fare will be charged and for reserved GS coaches (General Sitting), being reserved, second seating (2S) fare for reserved trains shall be charged and seats will be provided to all the passengers.
Around 26 lakh passengers booked tickets for the special train during the entire month of June, according to data available to the Union Ministry of Railways at 9 AM on Sunday. The booking of tickets for these trains is being done online through the IRCTC website or the mobile app. Indian Railways has also allowed from 22nd May the booking of reservation tickets through reservation counters, Common Service Centers (CSCs), and ticketing agents.
Now some instructions have been modified for all 230 trains (200 regular trains + 30 special Rajdhani-type trains) available to the general passengers for booking. It has been decided to increase the advance reservation period (ARP) of all 230 Specials from 30 days to 120 days. Booking of Parcel and luggage shall be permitted in all these 230 trains as well.
Charting and Boarding of Trains:
- RAC and Waitlist will be generated as per extant rules.
- No unreserved (UTS) tickets will be issued and no tickets will be issued onboard to any passenger during the journey.
- ALLOWED- Along with Fully confirmed and RAC passengers, partially Waitlisted Ticket holders (if in single PNR there are confirmed & WL passengers both) also allowed.
- NOT ALLOWED - Waitlisted passengers.
- Booking of Tatkal ticket can be done from 29th June 2020 for journey date 30 June 2020 and onwards.
- The first chart shall be prepared at least 4 hours before scheduled departure and the second chart shall be prepared at least 2 hours (unlike present practice of 30 minutes) before scheduled departure.
- All passengers shall be compulsorily screened and only asymptomatic passengers are allowed to enter /board the train.
- Passengers travelling by these special services will observe the following precautions :
- All passengers must wear face covers/masks at the entry and during travel.
- The passengers shall reach the station 90 minutes in advance to facilitate thermal screening at the station. Only passengers who are found asymptomatic will be permitted to travel.
- Passengers shall observe social distancing.
- On arrival at their destination, the travelling passengers will have to adhere to such health protocols as are prescribed by the destination state/UT.
Cancellation and Refund rule:
Railway Passengers (Cancellation of Ticket and Refund of Fare) Rules, 2015 shall be applicable. In addition refund of fare will be available in case the passenger is not allowed to travel due to high fever or symptoms of COVID -19.
If during screening at the station a passenger has very high temperatures or symptoms of COVID-19, they shall not be allowed to travel despite having confirmed tickets. In such cases, the full refund shall be provided to the passenger as under:-
- On PNR having a single passenger.
- On a party ticket if one passenger is found unfit to travel and also all other passengers on the same PNR do not want to travel in that case, a full refund shall be granted for all passengers.
- On a party ticket if one passenger is found unfit to travel however other passengers on the PNR want to travel in that case full refund of fare shall be granted to the passenger who was not allowed to travel.
For all the above cases, TTE certificates (as per extant practice) shall be issued to the passenger at the entry/checking/screening point of the station itself mentioning “Number of passengers not allowed to travel due to fever or symptoms of COVID-19 in one or more passengers”.
After getting TTE certificates, TDR shall be filed for a refund of not traveled passengers, within 10 days from the date of the journey.
Catering: No catering charges shall be included in the fare. Provision for pre-paid meal booking, e-catering shall be disabled. However, IRCTC shall make provision for limited eatables and packaged drinking water on a payment basis only in limited trains, having a Pantry car attached. Information to this effect shall be made available to passengers during the time of booking tickets. Passengers are encouraged to carry their own food and drinking water. All static catering and vending units (Multi-Purpose stalls, Bookstalls, Misc./Chemist stalls, etc) at Railway stations will remain open. In the case of Food Plaza and Refreshments rooms etc, cooked items may be served as taking away only with no sit-down eating arrangements in place
Linen and Blanket: No Linen, blankets, and curtains shall be provided inside the train. Passengers are advised to carry their own linen for the travel. The temperature inside AC coaches shall be suitably regulated for this purpose.
Zonal Railways have been instructed to ensure that there are separate entry and exit gates at Railway stations to the extent feasible so that there is no face to face movement of passengers. Zonal railways will be guided by standard social distancing guidelines on stations and trains and observe the safety, security, and hygiene protocols.
All passengers must download and use the Aarogya Setu application. Passengers are advised to travel light.
It is to be noted that these changes do not apply to the Shramik Specials since these aren't trains for which tickets can be reserved. They run with the specific purpose of returning migrant labourers to their homes for free.
As per MHA guidelines, all passengers shall be compulsorily screened and only asymptomatic passengers shall be allowed to enter/board the train.
This is the second slew of special passenger services that marked the Railways graded restoration of its trains which were suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak.
Earlier special Rajdhani trains with only AC coaches connecting Delhi to other major cities were operated.
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