Indian Railways cancels all regular train services till August 12
What's the story
The Indian Railways on Thursday decided to cancel all regular time-tabled passenger train services, including Mail/Express, passenger, and suburban trains, till August 12. The announcement was made by the Railway Board in the wake of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in India. Tickets booked for such trains for travel between July 1-August 12 stand canceled and full refunds will be provided. Here's more.
Details
Notification issued by the Railway Board regarding cancelation
"It has been decided that regular time-tabled passenger services including Mail/Express, passenger and suburban services stand canceled up to 12.08.2020," stated the Railway Board in a notification issued on Thursday. "It has also been decided that all the ticket booked for the regular time-tabled trains for the journey date from 01.07.20 to 12.08.20 also stand canceled," the Board added.
Refunds
Full fares will be refunded to passengers
Full fares will be refunded to those who have booked tickets for regular passenger trains until August 12. News agency ANI has quoted the Ministry of Railways as saying, "Full refunds generated for all the tickets booked for the regular time-tabled trains for journey dates from 01.07.2020 to 12.08.2020, as they stand canceled now."
Twitter Post
Here are the notifications regarding cancelation, refunds
Full refunds generated for all the tickets booked for the regular time-tabled trains for journey dates from 01.07.2020 to 12.08.2020, as they stand cancelled now: Ministry of Railways pic.twitter.com/0jmAWrku0L
— ANI (@ANI) June 25, 2020
Quote
'No trains which are presently operational have been canceled'
"We have only enabled refunds for trains which are not being operated and for which tickets have been booked prior to lockdown and upto April 14. No trains which are presently operational have been canceled," an Indian Railways spokesperson was quoted as saying by TimesNowNews.
Statement
No blanket order ruling out running of more trains: Spokesperson
"Special Trains will continue to run. As far as the running of more trains is concerned, all will be informed and bookings will be done, as and when the decision is taken about them," the Indian Railways spokesperson told TimesNowNews. "There [is] no blanket order ruling out running of more trains till 12 August," the spokesperson added.
Special trains
230 special trains will continue to run
While the regular passenger trains stand canceled, the 230 special train services that were started during the coronavirus-induced lockdown will continue to operate, according to the Indian Railways. Trains that will be operational include 30 Special Rajdhani AC trains that were launched on May 12 as well as the 200 Special Mail/Express services that were being operated since June 1.