The railways said it has refunded Rs 1,885 crore to passengers who booked tickets during the lockdown period and whose tickets were cancelled.
The Railways defended itself on Friday in the face of severe criticism over delays by Shramik Specials in reaching their destinations, saying they were not regular trains and they can be extended or short-terminated, and their stoppages and routes can be changed for the benefit of migrant workers.
The Railways on Thursday increased the advance reservation period from the present 30 days to 120 days for all special trains -- the 15 pairs operating since May 12 on Rajdhani routes and the 100 new pairs of special trains scheduled to run from June 1.
An employee of the Rail Bhavan here tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Monday, leading to the closure of all offices of the Railways Ministry for the next two days, the second time in less than a fortnight.
Indian Railways on Saturday announced to run 200 Mail Express trains from June 1, in addition to Special and Shramik trains.
In a big relief for passengers, Indian Railways opens its reservation counters at select stations for booking of only reserved tickets from today, nearly two months after they were shut due to the coronavirus lockdown.
Indian Railways starts online booking for the 200 (100 pairs) special trains from 10.00 am today. Railway Ministry on Wednesday issued a list of trains that will operate from June 1. Indian Railways also issued guidelines which the passengers travelling in these trains should keep in mind. Check how to book trains ticket online through the IRCTC app and website.
The Indian Railways has operated 1,300 'Shramik Special' trains since May 1, ferrying more than 17 lakh workers, it said on Sunday.
Three special trains, one each to Delhi, Odisha and Jharkhand with nearly 4,000 people, departed from here and two other terminals in Tamil Nadu on Friday, Southern Railway said.
Indian Railways on Wednesday announced that the waiting list for the special trains will begin from May 22. However, the waiting list will be capped at 20 each for First AC and Executive Class.
The South Eastern Railway has decided to reduce the speed of all goods and special trains to 40 km per hour in its Kharagpur-Bhadkar section till Monday morning owing to the movement of migrant workers at different places along the railway tracks, an official said in Kolkata on Sunday.
The Indian Railways has operated 366 "Shramik Special" trains since May 1 and ferried home around four lakh migrants stranded in various parts of the country amid the coronavirus-induced lockdown, officials said.
The railways reiterated on Saturday night that it was ferrying only those authorised by state governments in its special trains for people stranded during the lockdown, following reports of unauthorised travel and crowding at some stations.
Operation of train services, barring special services carrying migrant workers, tourists and students, would continue to remain suspended till the lockdown extension ending on May 17, Southern Railway said on Saturday.
Railway helplines set up to deal with customer grievances during the coronavirus-triggered lockdown received 13,000 queries, requests and suggestions a day on an average, the national transporter said in a statement on Monday.
Union minister Prakash Javadekar made it clear on Sunday that the central government has so far not taken any decision on starting train or airline services, asserting that any discussion on the issue is futile.
Indian Railways will forgo around Rs 660 crore in revenue as it is refunding the amount towards cancellation of around 39 lakh ticket bookings for travel between April 15 to May 3, the extended phase of the nationwide lockdown to fight coronavirus pandemic.
A while after the Prime Minister Narendra Modi's announcement of nationwide lockdown extension, Indian Railways and Civil Aviation ministry announced to suspend their services till May 3.
The Indian Railways subsidiary, Indian Rail Catering and Tourism Corporation or IRCTC, on Tuesday suspended bookings for its three private trains till April 30.
Railways, which has got a nod from the DRDO for making personal protection equipment (PPEs), has now set a target of manufacturing around 1000 of them in its 17 workshops every day.
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