According to the ministry, the reports by a section of media stating that Indian Railways has “resumed” ticket bookings from 15 April 2020, is not correct.
Indian Railways passengers, take note! Indian Railways has issued an important clarification with regards to reservation of passenger train services on the network for the post lockdown period. According to the national transporter, some media reports have recently claimed that Indian Railways has started train reservations for the post lockdown period. According to the ministry, the reports by a section of media stating that Indian Railways has “resumed” ticket bookings from 15 April 2020, is not correct. The Railway Ministry further stated that the reservation for train journeys post the lockdown period was never stopped and is not related to any new announcement.
According to the Railway Ministry, the ticket bookings of passenger train services never stopped except for the nationwide lockdown period i.e., 24 March 2020 to 14 April 2020. Since the advance reservation period in Indian Railways for taking reserved ticket is 120 days, ticket bookings for 15 April 2020 and beyond were made open much prior to the lockdown period, the ministry added.
In the wake of COVID-19 pandemic, all passenger train services on Indian Railways network including Premium train services, Mail or Express train services, Passenger train services, Suburban train services, Kolkata Metro Rail as well as Konkan Railway services have been cancelled till 14 April 2020. However, operations of freight trains are being continued in order to ensure the supply essential commodities across the nation. Indian Railways has deployed staff at various good sheds, control offices and railway stations, who are working on a 24X7 basis to ensure that the supply of essential commodities does not get affected during the lockdown period.
Meanwhile, in view of cancellation of all passenger train services and ticketing of passenger trains up to 14 April 2020, the national transporter is granting full refund to passengers for all passenger train tickets (for both, counter booked PRS tickets and e-tickets) for journey period from 21 March to 14 April 2020.
