Indian Railways has cancelled all tickets booked for travel on or before June 30. The national transporter stated that all Shramik Special trains and the special trains that started this week would ply as usual. All tickets for regular passenger trains, including mail/express and suburban services till June 30 have been cancelled. Refund for tickets booked till June 30 will be issued.
The Railways had earlier stated that it would restart waitlisting tickets from May 22. On Wednesday, the national transporter issued an order that says that not only the 15 special trains but also the ones that would be notified in the due course of time would be affected before its cancellation order.
The national transporter also announced relaxation in refunds norms on Wednesday. The Railways said that if the train is cancelled by the Railways then refund for PRS counter ticket can be collected once the passenger shows the ticket within 6 months of the journey, instead of 3 days. As for e-ticket it would be automatically refunded.
The Railways said that if the passenger cancels the ticket for personal reasons, then he or she can file TDR (Ticket Deposit Receipt) within 6 months of the journey, instead of 3 days, at the station, followed by submission of the detailed TDR within the next 60 days, instead of 10 days, to Chief Claims Officer. As for online refund, the facility is available on the site.
After nearly two months, Indian Railways started operations from Tuesday, apart from the Shramik Trains that are ferrying migrant workers across the country.
Passengers who are travelling on-board these trains must follow strict social distancing norms. Some states have also ordered facility quarantine for 14 days upon arrival of passengers.
Indian Railways is now operating 15 special trains from New Delhi to Agartala, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Bhubaneswar, Bilaspur, Chennai, Dibrugarh, Howrah, Jammu Tawi, Madgaon, Mumbai, Patna, Ranchi, Secunderabad and Thiruvananthapuram.
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