BENGALURU: There was a huge rush to book train tickets on all special trains announced late Wednesday night, as soon as the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website opened for booking at 10 am Thursday, a top railway official said. However, passengers need to note that a new set of rules come into effect for those who travel in the special Passenger trains that will run from June 1 in Karnataka and across the country.
Only passengers with confirmed tickets will be allowed to board trains. All train passengers will have to mandatorily report at the station 90 minutes in advance, for compulsory screening, and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train.
If during screening, a passenger has very high temperature/symptoms of Covid, the individual will not be allowed to travel despite having confirmed tickets. In such a case, the passenger will get a full refund. In case the specific ticket (PNR number) has other passengers on it, they can choose to continue to travel or not. Full refund will be given if they do not travel.
Social distancing needs to be observed on and off trains, besides other health measures. No linen or bedsheets will be provided onboard. Catering will not be available but some food items will be sold inside trains and at stations en route. While provision has been made to run trains to and from Maharashtra, South Western Railways is still debating the issue, since the State government does not permit entry of those from the neighbouring state.
TTE misbehaves with N-E students, suspended
A TTE attached to the Bengaluru Railway Division has been suspended for allegedly ill-treating students including two women from Sikkim. The incident occurred on May 19 on a Shramik Special train bound for New Jalpaiguri in West Bengal. It came to light after one of the students train recorded the staffer’s behaviour. In the three-minute video, the TTE is seen entering a compartment with students and ordering the women students to sit in specific places and to remove the luggage which they had placed in front of the seats. He is seen addressing them in singular and being very arrogant.