Railway cancels tickets of special trains in Maharashtra after state bans inter-district travel

New Delhi, May 21: The railways on Thursday cancelled tickets of all passengers of special trains whose originating and terminating stations fall within Maharashtra after the state government prohibited inter-district travel.

In an order issued on Thursday, the railways said all the tickets of the special trains scheduled to run from June 1 in Maharashtra will be automatically cancelled and full refund will be provided to passengers.

It also said that till further notice, intra-state bookings within Maharashtra should not be permitted. This, however, does not mean that trains cannot originate from stations in Maharashtra, a railway spokesperson said.

"It means that people cannot board and deboard a train from within the state," he said. For instance, if a train from Mumbai to Kanpur goes via Nashik, no passenger who has boarded the train from any station in Maharashtra can deboard within the boundaries of the state. However, a passenger can board the train from Nashik and travel outside the state, the spokesperson explained.

"Only those who have availed tickets to travel within the state cannot do so now," he added.

The 100 pairs of special trains, including the Duronto Express, Jan Shatabdi and several popular mail and express trains, are scheduled to begin their journey from June 1. The railway board order also stated that passengers should be sent an SMS stating that, "Due to restrictions imposed by Maharashtra government for travel within the state by train, your ticket has been cancelled and full refund shall be given."