Indian Railways has announced that it will begin services of 200 non-AC trains daily from 1st June 2020, in addition to the Shramik Special trains. However, 15 pairs of special trains have been running since 12th May to allow people to travel inter-state. Railways had cancelled all other mail, express, passenger and suburban trains till 30th June. Now, it has revised its plans, deciding to start operations from the beginning of June. Read on.
How Is It Happening?
The fares of the 200 time-tabled trains starting from 1st June will be minimal sleeper rates. People of all categories will be able to avail them. Migrants can also book tickets for these trains. The tickets will be available online soon. Also, no ticket counters will be open at the stations for offline bookings. Taking to Twitter, the Ministry of Railways has made the announcement, adding that information about the same will be provided soon.
इन श्रमिक स्पेशल ट्रेनों के अतिरिक्त भारतीय रेल 1 जून से प्रतिदिन 200 अतिरिक्त टाइम टेबल ट्रेनें चलाने जा रहा है जो कि गैर वातानुकूलित द्वितीय श्रेणी की ट्रेन होंगी एवं इन ट्रेनों की बुकिंग ऑनलाइन ही उपलब्ध होगी। ट्रेनों की सूचना शीघ्र ही उपलब्ध कराई जाएगी।#IndiaFightCorona
— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) May 19, 2020
Also Read: Travelling By Train? You Need To Know These Rules
What Else?
Railways is also mulling over doubling the number of Shramik Special trains to help thousands of migrant workers who are stranded in different parts of the country, reach their homes. These trains have already transported over 21.5 lakh migrants in about 19 days. Railways has requested the state governments to identify the migrants who have been travelling on foot to land up to their villages. They need to be reported and registered at the nearby district headquarters so that the authorities can make arrangements for their travel through the Shramik trains by sending them to the nearby mainline railway stations.
The Centre has eased restrictions for transportation now, and several states have already resumed services of buses, cabs, autos, e-rickshaws and more. Now, railways is also planning to start its regular operations. Before lockdown, it used to run more than 12,000 trains daily. As transport services are gradually restarting, we must ensure that we maintain safe distances from others, wear face masks and use hand sanitizers frequently to combat the spread of the virus.