List of 200 Special Trains for Festive Season
Rail News: The Ministry of Railways has decided to run 39 pairs of trains, taking the total number of special passenger trains operating in the country to 388. Indian Railways to also restart passenger services of Tejas Express trains from 17 October.
Railway Ministry to Run 200 Special Trains from 15 October
Indian Railways has decided to run 200 special trains from 15 October to 30 November to fulfil the demands of passengers travelling during the festive season. In the list shared by the Railways Board, the new passenger’s trains include Shatabdi Express, Rajdhani, Vande Bharat, Duronto and General AC Express trains. The new 39 pairs of trains will be functional very soon as informed by the Railways Ministry. Take a look at the full list of 78 trains whose services will be commenced soon.
Here is the full list of 39 special trains for the upcoming festive season:
- Loymanya Tilak (T) to Haridwar – Biweekly
- Loymanya Tilak (T) to Lucknow – Weekly
- Ajni to Pune – Weekly
- Nagpur to Amritsar -Weekly
- Kamakhya to Loymanya Tilak – Weekly
- Kamakhya to Yesvantpur – Weekly
- Nizamuddin to Pune – Weekly
- Anand Vihar to Naharlagun – Weekly
- New Delhi to Katra – Daily
- Barmer to Yesvantpur – Weekly
- Secunderabad to Shalimar -Weekly
- Lingampally to Kakinada town – Triweekly
- Secunderabad to Vizag – Weekly
- Santragachi to Chennai – Biweekly
- Howrah to Yesvantpur – Weekly
- Chennai to Madurai – Triweekly
- Bandra (T) to Bhuj – Triweekly
- Bhubaneswar to Anand Vihar – Weekly
- Bhubaneswar to Delhi – Weekly
- Nizamuddin to Pune – Biweekly
- Howrah to Pune – Biweekly
- Chennai to Nizamuddin – Biweekly
- Dibrugarh to New Delhi – Weekly
- Dibrugarh to New Delhi – Bi-weekly
- Mumbai Central to Nizamuddin – Daily
- Bandra to Nizamuddin – Weekly
- Bengaluru to Chennai – Except Tuesday
- Mumbai Central to Ahmedabad – Except Sunday
- Chennai to Coimbatore – Except Tuesday
- New Delhi to Habibganj – Daily
- New Delhi to Amritsar – Daily
- New Delhi to Dehradun – Daily
- New Delhi to Amritsar – Except Thursday
- Howrah to Ranchi – Except Sunday
- New Delhi to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra – Except Tuesday
- Jaipur to Delhi Sari Rohilla – Daily
- Ahmedabad to Mumbai Central – Except Sunday
- Chennai to Bengaluru – Daily
- Visakhapatnam to Tirupati – Tri-weekly
Download the List of 39 New Special Trains for Festive Seasons
Meanwhile, the IRCTC announced to restart the services of Tejas Express trains for catering to the increasing passengers’ demands due to the festive season.
Tejas Express Trains Will Run from 17 October
Indian Railways is all set to resume the services of its corporate train, Tejas Express from 17 October to cater to the increasing passengers’ demands due to the upcoming festive season.
The Railway Board had suspended the Tejas Express trains since 19 March 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Both the private trains – Lucknow-New Delhi Tejas Express Train (82501/02) and Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas Express Train (82901/02) – are expected to restart operations from 17 October.
Also Read: Private Trains in India: Route, Facility and Full Details
Safety Rules for the Tejas Express Train’s Passengers and Staffs
IRCTC has conducted a training program to educate and train its employees of Tejas Express trains to handle the operations of the trains and provide services according to the COVID-19 pandemic safety guidelines.
Some of the safety rules have been issued by the Indian railways to ensure the safety of the passengers:
- Every alternate seat will be kept free to follow the social distancing rule.
- Travellers will not be allowed to exchange their train seats once seated.
- Use of masks will be mandatory for passengers and staff.
- All the passengers of Tejas train will have to install the “Aarogya Setu” app.
- Full information will be given to the passengers at the time of booking of tickets.
- All the passengers will be provided with a COVID-19 protection kit which will contain a hand sanitizer, one face shield, one face mask, and a pair of gloves.
- All the travellers will have to pass through the hand sanitization and thermal screening process before entering the train.
- The compartment, including pantry areas and lavatories, will be thoroughly disinfected at regular intervals.
- The luggage of the travellers will be disinfected by train staff.
- Frequently touched surfaces inside the coach along with service trays and trolleys, will be regularly cleaned and disinfected by the workers.
Also Read:How to Stay Healthy While Travelling by Train?
Meeting Conducted With the Zonal Managers
V.K. Yadav said that they have conducted a meeting with the general managers of the railway zones and instructed them to consult the local administration and review the status of COVID-19 infection. A report had been taken from them, based on which about 200 special trains will be run for the festive season. He said that the situation of the COVID-19 and need of the trains would be monitored daily.
Indian Railways Reservation Rules Will Come into Effect from 10 October
Indian Railways will restore Second Reservation Chart System from 10 October. Just like pre-COVID times, the first reservation chart will be prepared four hours before the departure of the train while the second reservation chart will be prepared between 30 min to 5 min before the departure of the train.
This means until the 2nd reservation chart is prepared, passengers can book train tickets. Reserved tickets can also be cancelled during this chart preparation time, as per the rules of the refund rules.
If a seat, which was reserved in the 1st chart of reservation; becomes vacant owing to cancellation, then that seat can be booked through PRS counters and online mode till the 2nd chart is prepared.
Also Read:IRCTC Ticket Cancellation and Refund Rules 2020: Everything You Need to Know
Railways Running More Than 300 Special Trains
The Indian Railways had suspended all passenger trains services due to the imposition of a nationwide lockdown since 25 March. However, it resumed train services in a staggered way with Shramik Special trains to assist stranded migrant workers reach their home place since 1 May.
Later, it started 115 pairs of special trains across the country, followed by another 40 pairs of special trains since 12 September. The extra trains were started keeping in mind the COVID-19 situation and also to allow reverse migration of urban area workers, with the country entering into Unlock 4.0
Why Are Clone Trains Running?
The Indian Railways had decided to run 20 pairs of ‘clone trains’ on select routes from 21 September because of the massive crowd in many special trains. Where there is a long waiting, a clone train is run, and if the clone train is also filled, then another clone train is run there. The average occupancy of the clone train is 60%.
Also Read: 40 New Clone Trains From 21 Sep: Full List, Route and Fare
Features of Clone Trains
The main feature of the clone trains is that these trains will run at a higher speed and also have fewer stoppages than the original train which long-distance travellers prefer to travel. At the same time, people from short distances are going by the actual train. The clone train is saving time.
Railways Will Also Make Passengers Aware of Coronavirus during Train Journey
In the festive season of Durga Puja, Diwali and Chhath Puja, the coronavirus awareness campaign will also run along with the train. People will be educated about Corona. There are mainly three rules – wash hands regularly, apply face masks and maintain social distancing. People from villages around the stations will also be instructed to follow safety measures to avoid Corona.
The bookings for the special trains will be opened on the e-ticketing website of IRCTC and the IRCTC Rail Connect App shortly.
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