All rail tickets booked for travel on or before June 30 cancelled in India, special trains remain unaffected: Ministry

NEW DELHI, May 14, 2020, Hindustan Times. The Ministry of Railways has announced that all train tickets booked before March 25 for travel on or before June 30 will stand cancelled and a full refund will be provided to customers. The announcement applies to the reservation of passenger rail travel tickets booked before the coronavirus lockdown for travel up to June 30, 2020, Hindustan Times reported.

The operation of Shramik special trains, for the purpose of the repatriation of stranded migrant labourers amid the coronavirus lockdown, will remain unaffected. 15 special interstate passengers trains that resumed operation on May 12 shall also run uninterrupted without any change. The latest announcement by the ministry does not apply to the above-mentioned train services.

With effect from May 13, the IRCTC has started taking the destination address of all passengers who are booking tickets, the ministry stated. The move will help in Covid-19 contact tracing if required. The ministry said that it will introduce a new provision for this in the form for online booking.

All passenger train operations were suspended in March after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced nationwide coronavirus lockdown to break the chain of the infection in the country. Goods trains and rail operations for essentials were carried out by the Railways.

Earlier this month, the government began operating special ‘Shramik’ trains to ferry stranded migrant labourers across the country to their native places amid the coronavirus lockdown. Lakhs of migrant workers have reached their native lands with the help of over 600 special trains so far. The ministry also started 15 interstate passenger train services on May 12. 15 trains, starting from the national capital and connecting various cities across the country, started operation on May 12.