Railways cancels all passenger trains till March 31 due to coronavirus

The Indian Railways has suspend all rail services from March 22 till March 31 in its effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.

Taking to Twitter, Piyush Goyal, Minister of Railways and Commerce & Industry said, “Strengthening precautions against COVID-19, Railways has decided that no passenger train will run up to 31st March.”

However, a bare minimum level of service of suburban trains and Kolkata Metro rail will continue up to midnight tonight, a notice issued by the ministry stated.

The railways has suspended the services to avoid unnecessary spread of the virus that has affected 324 people across the country, Malayala Manorama quoted Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav as saying during a video conference with Zonal General Managers.

The existing shut down of trains will be extended for the next 72 hours and the currently running trains will reach the respective destinations. All major railway station will be emptied to avoid gathering of passengers. Railway board will further meet on March 25 to decide whether extension of trains shutdown need to be extended or not, according to sources in Railways Ministry.

However, the order will only be issued after a nod from the Railways Ministry.

Meanwhile, railways issued an advisory on Saturday relaxing refund rules for passengers who had booked tickets to travel between March 21 and April 15 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.

(With inputs from agencies)