Railways cancels tickets till June 30; special passenger, Shramik trains to operate

The railways has cancelled all old bookings for regular trains including passenger trains, mails and suburban trains, scheduled till June 30 and provide full refund for it.

In a statement released in this regard, the railways clarified that Shramik Special trains which started from May 1 and the special trains which started operations from May 12 will, however, continue to operate.

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The tickets, which are to be cancelled, were booked during the lockdown period when the railways was allowing bookings for journeys in June.

Regular mail, express, passenger and suburban services of the railways had been suspended from March 25 due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.

Earlier, all bookings for regular trains were stopped till May 17, till lockdown 3.0 remains in force.

In April, the Railways refunded around ₹1,490 crore to passengers after 94 lakh tickets were cancelled.

“Regular passenger service including Mail/Express, Passenger and Suburban services have been cancelled until further advice. Competent authority has desired that all tickets booked for the above trains for the period up to 30th June 2020 may be cancelled and full refund generated as per provisions, the order said.

While all e-tickets will be refunded automatically, those bought at the counter for journeys post March 21 can be cancelled and refunds taken upon submission of the ticket up to six months from date of journey instead of the present three days excluding day of journey.

“Passenger can file TDR (Ticket Deposit Receipt) within six months from date of journey instead of 3 days at the station and submit the detailed TDR within next sixty (60) days (instead of 10 days) to Chief Claims Officer/CCM Refund office for getting the refund amount, subject to verification,” the order stated.

It also said that for e-tickets while online cancellation and refund facility is available, passengers can also cancel PRS counter ticket through 139 or through the website of IRCTC and get refund across the counter within six months from journey, instead of up to schedule departure of the train.

(With inputs from agencies)