Full refund for all cancelled tickets till April 15: Indian Railways

New Delhi, Mar 21: All Indian Railways passengers who have booked tickets to travel between March 21 and April 15 will get free refund on cancellation of trains till April 15, 2020, in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak in the country to avoid crowding on trains and encourage social distancing.

The order states if a train is cancelled by Railways for journey period March 21-April 15, refund across counter can be taken on submission of ticket up to 45 days from the date of journey instead of the present three hours.

In case a train is not cancelled but the passenger desires to cancel his journey, TDR (Ticket Deposit Receipt) can be filed within 30 days from date of journey at the station, instead of present three days. TDR can also be submitted to the chief commercial officer for getting the refund within 60 days of filing of TDR subject to verification from train chart, instead of extant rule of 10 days, the order stated.

For passengers who want to cancel tickets through 139, can get refund across the counter within 30 days from the date of journey instead of up to scheduled departure of the train.

Mail and express trains will also stop services from 4am on Sunday, the transporter has said. All intercity trains will also remain cancelled till 10pm on Sunday.

All suburban train services in Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai and Secunderabad will be reduced to a bare minimum as well.