Passengers told to reach 90 minutes early, travel light & carry own food

NEW TRAVEL NORMS

Passengers told to reach 90 minutes early, travel light & carry own food

Dipak Dash & Bharti Jain TNN

New Delhi  12.05.2020

: All passengers with confirmed tickets will need to reach railway stations at least 90 minutes prior to scheduled departure of any special train that will start plying between Delhi and 15 other cities from Tuesday (today), a norm which was applicable for domestic air travel till now.

The passengers also need to carry less luggage with them and bring their own food as there will be no catering service or provision for prepaid booking of meals in these trains, except IRCTC making provision for limited eatables such as dry and ready-to-eat food and packaged drinking water on payment basis. They will also require to carry their own linen with them as railways won’t provide linen, blankets and curtains. However, the temperature inside AC coaches shall be “suitably regulated”, the railway ministry said.

The first eight trains will start plying from Tuesday including three from New Delhi — one heading to Dibrugarh, another to Bengaluru and a third one to Bilaspur — one

each from Mumbai Central, Howrah, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru and Patna to Delhi. Another nine trains will start their trip on Wednesday.

Addressing a major concern of how passengers can reach stations amid a lockdown, the home ministry issued guidelines said passengers as well as the driver of the vehicle transporting them to and from the railway station shall be allowed on the basis of the confirmed e-ticket.

In a detailed guideline, the railway ministry said booking for these trains can be done through IRCTC for maximum seven days in advance and no waitlist or RAC tickets will be issued. The railways allowed booking for all berths including the middle berth in 3AC coaches even as the home ministry guidelines require social distancing by passengers inside the trains.

Only passengers with confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter the station after proper thermal screening.

While only asymptomatic persons will be allowed to travel, railways said the passengers will have to comply with the health protocol of the destination state once they deboard the train.

Full report on www.toi.in