These are in addition to the Shramik Special trains. (File)
Seventeen Jan Shatabdis, five Durontos and a number of traditionally popular mail or express trains to various parts of India are among the list of 100 trains to be reintroduced from June 1 in the second phase of graded resumption of passenger train operations in India.
Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced this on Twitter on Tuesday. Railways had, however, said 200 trains yesterday though it seems it meant 100 pairs of trains— to and fro. The bookings will open on Thursday. These trains can be booked up to 30 days in advance. Tickets can only be booked from the website.
Significantly, Railways also ordered Wednesday that the food stalls and canteens at stations are to be opened, bringing back some of the normalcy in the railway stations.
Guidelines for Train Services beginning on 1st June 2020. Graded Restoration of Train services. Booking of all these trains will commence from 10 am on 21/05/20. (1/2)
Detailed press release👇 pic.twitter.com/6DB6Ts7HMR— Central Railway (@Central_Railway) May 20, 2020
Sources said the decision has been taken with the twin objective of opening up the options for willing migrants to come back to the states of work from their home states in the interest of resumption of economic activity, along with giving the stranded and others willing to travel the option.
The five Durontos, which will run from Howrah to Yesvantpur, Sealdah to Puri, Shalimar to Patna, Ernakulam to Nizamuddin and Secunderabad to Nizamuddin. The bouquet of trains, curated over the past few days, connects tier-two cities across India as well as metros and capital cities.
Here is the full list of 100 trains:
These are in addition to the Shramik Special trains. States like Bihar had proposed to the Railways that along with the Shramik trains, ticketed trains be also run for the stranded. Railways had already been deliberating this for a while.
Apart from the 17 Jan Shatabdis, which are seating only trains for shorter distances, the regular mail/express long-distance trains include such popular ones like Shivgang, Shramjeevi, Goa Express, Andhra Pradesh Express, Golden Temple Mail, Karnataka Sampark Kranti, Howrah-Mumbai Mail, Ashram Express, Karambhumi Express, etc.
These will be fully reserved trains having both AC & Non AC classes. General coaches shall also have reserved seats for sitting. There will be no unreserved coach in the train. “Fare shall be as normal and for General (GS) coaches, being reserved, second seating(2S) fare shall be charged and seat will be provided to all the passengers,” Railways said.
The usual health protocol of screening and allowing only asymptomatic passengers to travel etc as applicable on the special Rajdhani type trains started earlier this month will continue, like having to reach station 90 minutes in advance. A limited number booking counters will be opened for special passes and quotas but not for the general public.
Only four categories of Divyangjan concession and 11 categories of patient concessions are permitted in these special trains.