Amid the uncertainty over the extension of the 21-day national lockdown ending April 14, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation(IRCTC) has suspended the booking of its 3 privately operated trains till 30 April. Earlier it was suspended until the end of the first 21-day lockdown.
The three trains are Kashi Mahakal Express (between Varanasi and Indore), the Lucknow-New Delhi Tejas and the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express.
With this, all passengers who book tickets in these three trains will get full refund. At present, IRCTC operates private trains on two very busy routes in the name of Tejas Express. These include the route from Delhi to Lucknow and Ahmedabad.
The decision came despite indications that the national transporter may have begun preparing plans to resume passenger and mail express train services post the lockdown, though, the ministry denied this reports.
“Certain media reports have come on a post lockdown “restoration plan” with train details, frequency etc. It is to clarify that no such plan regarding the resumption of passenger services has been issued. All concerned would be duly informed about any further decision in this regard,” the ministry said on Twitter on Saturday.
All interstate, suburban and metro services run by Indian railways are suspended at the moment and only transportation of goods is taking place. The focus of the railway ministry has shifted currently to using the railway infrastructure for augmenting the national effort against coronavirus. About 2500 coaches have been converted into quarantine and treatment facilities to cater for over 4,000 Covid-19 patients if the need arises.
Railways have also opened up its hospitals to treat coronavirus patients and also decided to manufacture up to 1000 PPE (personal protective equipment) every day which could be supplied to the medical professionals at the forefront of the battle.
