Rlys offers refunds, regular trains not likely till mid-August

SPECIAL RUN

Rlys offers refunds, regular trains not likely till mid-August

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi:  24.06.2020

The Indian Railways will refund the full booking amount of all tickets booked up to April 14 for all regular time-tabled trains, an indication of the national transporter not resuming the earlier regular passenger train services at least till mid-August.

Currently, it’s running only 230 mail and express trains as “special trains”. Though the railway ministry has repeatedly said more trains are likely to be operated to meet any demand, sources said these may be branded as “special” ones as well.

The railway ministry, on Monday, issued a circular to all zones informing them about the decision to cancel all tickets booked on or before April 14 and to generate full refund of tickets.

The railways had allowed advance booking of tickets for 120 days. As per the current rules, passengers don’t need to cancel tickets, if the railways cancel trains and the process of automatic full refund starts.

Railways had suspended advance reservation for regular train services from April 15, though the regular train services were cancelled from March 25.

Railway ministry officials had told reporters on Monday that the average occupancy of the special trains being operated now was 70%. All these special trains presently being run are fully reserved services.

Meanwhile, considering the restricted movement of passengers and less demand due to pandemic, the railways has decided to focus more on freight movement and getting the ground ready for private investment.