NEW DELHI: A day before passenger trains are to resume operations partially, the government on Monday spelled out operational details and issued a Standard Operating Procedure, making it clear that only asymptomatic and confirmed ticket holders will be allowed to travel.
All the special trains will only have AC rakes and Rajdhani train fares will be applied, excluding the cost of food, which will not be provided on board.“The provision for pre-paid meal booking and e-catering shall be disabled. However, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation shall make provision for limited eatables and packaged drinking water on payment,” the ministry said. Dry, ready-to-eat food and bottled water shall be provided on demand, inside the trains on payment.
Linen and blankets shall also not be provided inside the train. Curtains, too, have been taken away from all coaches.Passengers can cancel their ticket online up to 24 hours before the scheduled departure. “No cancellation is permitted less than 24 hrs before departure of train. Cancellation charge shall be 50 per cent of the fare,” the ministry’s statement said.
All tickets have to be booked online. On Monday, online booking started after a two-hour delay. As of 9.15 pm, at least 30,000 tickets had been booked.All passengers shall be screened before the journey. They will be provided hand sanitisers at stations and in coaches.