All seats on trains will not be available for booking says Minister

New Delhi, May 11: As the Indian Railways is planning to gradually restart passenger train operations from May 12, Union Minister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi said on Monday that not every seat will be available for booking in the passenger train to ensure social distancing and other norms to prevent COVID-19 spread.

Booking for reservation in these trains will start at 4 pm on May 11 and will be available only on the IRCTC website, said the railway ministry.

These trains will be run as special trains from New Delhi station connecting 15 important cities of the country, namely Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Trivandrum, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi.

Only passengers with confirmed and valid tickets will be allowed to enter the station at Delhi, the Railways warned, adding that all passengers would also have to wear face masks, under screening at departure (only those without COVID-19 symptoms will be allowed to board) and maintain social distancing at all times.

All trains will run with AC coaches only and will have limited stoppage, it said.