There is no sign of the Indian Railways resuming operations post-lockdown that ends on May 3, 2020. Though extensive preparations are on to ensure COVID-19 safety protocol such as physical distancing on railway premises, including trains, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has not commenced booking of tickets.
The online portal says that in the wake of COVID-19 and as a measure of abundant precaution, booking has been suspended for all trains until further advice. For trains cancelled till May 3, 2020, full refund would be provided automatically by IRCTC and there is no need to cancel the tickets. However, goods/parcel train operations are on in full swing to transport essential commodities, medicines etc.
According to senior railway officials, the Railway Board has been in touch with Zonal Railways on a regular basis over video-conferencing and no decision has been taken yet on resuming passenger train services after the second phase of lockdown.
Though there is speculation of the lockdown getting extended by at least another couple of weeks, railway authorities are preparing to implement the safety protocol to manage the crowds in case a decision is taken to run the trains even partially. Accident/medical relief trains have been kept ready with sufficient manpower available at call, sources in the Southern Railway said.
“Some of the crowd control plans include withdrawal of unreserved coaches, removal (not allotting) of the middle berth in Sleeper Class/Third AC coaches and suspending issue of platform tickets.
Physical distance markings are being done in some major stations and steps will be taken to make availability of masks, hand sanitisers etc. for sale at stations. Passengers may be asked to compulsorily wear masks and report one hour before the departure of the train. There will be a mechanism to ensure end-to-end sanitization of the train,” a railway official told The Hindu on Monday.
Asked if there was any proposal to operate special trains for migrant workers who were jobless and staying in camps/shelters provided by their employers or government, the official said such requests had to come from the States.
“One State might be willing to send thousands of migrant workers home. But the State where they want to go should be ready to receive them considering the scenario prevailing there. And such trains cannot have stoppages en route…we have to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to the extent possible by taking all precautionary measures,” the official who preferred not to be quoted said.
