Coronavirus update: Railways cancel 168 trains, passengers to get 100% refund of ticket money
The Indian Railways on Thursday announced that it has decided to not charge a cancellation fee for 155 trains cancelled, which will not operate between March 20 and March 31, in view of low occupancy and the novel coronavirus pandemic. Train passengers will get 100% refund for these cancelled trains, PTI reported.
Railway officials said the trains were identified last night and the decision will be effective from March 20 until March 31.
"All passengers having tickets in these 155 trains are being informed about it individually. No cancellation fee will be taken for these trains. Passengers will get 100-per cent refund," an official said.
The national transporters have also issued a set of guidelines to zonal headquarters for its catering staff, stating no employee having fever, cough, runny nose or difficulty in breathing "should be deployed in the business of food handling on the Indian Railways".
According to data, Maharashtra continues to have the highest number of cases among all states with 45 postive cases including three foreign nationals.
The novel coronavirus cases in India rose to 169 on Thursday after 18 fresh cases were reported from various parts of the country, according to the Health Ministry.
The cases include 25 foreign nationals -- 17 from Italy, 3 from the Philippines, two from the UK, one each belonging to Canada, Indonesia and Singapore. The figure also includes three deaths reported from Delhi, Karnataka and Maharashtra so far.
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