Railways Allow Waiting List Booking in Special Trains
Amid the ongoing lockdown across the country some intermittent and necessary reliefs are being provided over time while containing the spread of Coronavirus. For the 15 passenger special trains that have been restarted to bring the people stranded in the lockdown to their homes, the Railway Ministry has also announced the one more facility of waiting list. Waiting list tickets will also be issued in these trains from 22 May. As of now, waiting list tickets were not available in these trains. But on Wednesday night, the railway has made a slight change in the rules. Now, waiting list tickets will be available in these special trains from 22 May. Its booking will start from 15 May. However, the scope of the waiting list will be limited. Railway has cleared that No RAC will be allowed in any condition in these trains.
100 Waiting in Third AC and 200 in the Sleeper
Railways have fixed the waiting list limit for these trains as 100 for AC three tires, 50 for AC two tires, 200 for sleeper class, 100 for chair cars and 20-20 for first AC and executive class. In this way, Railways has tried to reduce the crowd for the confirmed ticket. This change will come into effect from 15 May for booking tickets for the journeys starting from 22 May. Railway has clarified that no new trains will run. All trains will remain cancelled till 30 June. Those who have already booked May-June tickets will get refund on their full fare. The PRS counter ticket cancellation time has been reduced to 280 days.
Normal Refund Rules Implemented for Special Passenger Trains
The time limit for returning counter tickets has been increased from 3 months to 6 months. Moreover, a 50% reduction will be made on cancellation of the special trains, which has the allowance of cancelling the tickets up to 24 hours in advance with the normal refund rules that have been implemented. There is no change made in the concessions by Railways. However, Tatkal and Premium Tatkal facilities will also not be available for these trains.
Railways Can Operate More Mail/Express Trains from 22nd May
According to the latest information, the railways can start operating mail, express and Shatabdi trains from May 22. Let us know that due to the lockdown so far, the railway workers have started special trains for migrant labourers trapped in various states. Apart from this, Railways have also started Rajdhani Special trains. According to the sources, Shatabdi Special and Intercity Special trains can also run on the pattern of Shramik and Rajdhani Special trains. The introduction of this facility will provide considerable relief to the middle class.