HYDERABAD: The South Central Railway (SCR) opened ticket counters at 14 stations in Telangana to facilitate bookings for the new set of trains, which would run with an increased frequency from June.The measure was taken in a bid to normalise the way train services are managed in the country. The Secunderabad railway station, however, wore a deserted look with no rush at the ticket counters. People stood in the queue markings made at the booking counters, maintaining a 2-ft distance. Sanitiser bottles were placed at every window and the counter operators were told to wear masks.
Following social distancing strictly, the SCR is allowing only alternative chairs to be occupied in the waiting areas at the Nampally and Secunderabad stations. Telangana would have nine pairs of new trains operating from June. Currently, it has three pairs going to Bengaluru, New Delhi and Chennai. The new trains would be operated to Mumbai, Howrah, New Delhi and Amritsar, among other destinations.
Since the new routes are also limited, the footfall on Friday was low. “Majority of the tickets sold before the lockdown were via the IRCTC website and app; only about 35 per cent were booked at counters. Now, we anticipate most bookings to be done online,” an SCR spokesperson said.