Coronavirus: Railways has announced 200 regular passenger trains starting June 1
The Railways blamed "firing problems (and) cyclonic conditions in the east" for delays this morning in opening online bookings for 200 regular passenger trains scheduled to run from June 1.
Booking for passenger trains expected to run after the coronavirus lockdown ends on May 31 had been scheduled to open on the IRCTC website and app at 10 am but, as the minutes ticked past, reports of tickets being unavailable emerged, prompting the Railways to issue a clarification.
The Railways said the delay in "firing of trains" could be because "many people will log in at the same time" and "200 trains will take time to become active on reservation systems". It also pointed to weather conditions in the east - where Cyclone Amphan battered Bengal and parts of Odisha on Wednesday, leaving at least 12 dead and damage worth a reported Rs 1 lakh crore.
As of 11 am, data for 69 trains had been entered into the system and tickets were being booked for some non-AC services. Three minutes earlier IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) tweeted: "Website is working fine. Tickets are getting booked", even as several people complained of delays and non-availability of tickets.
"Firing of trains is a time-consuming exercise and refers to loading of all information related to the journey into the system. This is done simultaneously from both origin and destination zones. Due to cyclonic conditions in the east, firing from that end is expected to be impacted for some time," the Railways said in its statement.
"All are advised to have patience. Indian Railways is doing this graded restoration to ensure maximum persons can move in these conditions," the statement added.
On Wednesday, the Railways said regular passenger trains - in addition to "shramik" and passenger specials already running - would begin from next month. These trains will include both AC and non-AC coaches, the railways noted.
The decision to run these trains came days after the centre extended the coronavirus lockdown for a third time but lifted the bar on bus service and other public transport.
Passengers will be screened for COVID-19 infection before boarding and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to travel. Symptomatic passengers will get full refund. Everyone must wear masks and have the COVID-19 contact-tracing app Aarogya Setu installed in their mobiles.
Before the lockdown, the railways operated around 12,000 trains every day. Since May 1, it has run 366 special trains for migrant workers from different corners of the country, in addition to special passenger services (15 return journeys starting from New Delhi) that began earlier this month.
Meanwhile, the government has announced a "calibrated" restart of domestic flight services. These will begin from Monday, May 25, Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday.
SOPs for air passengers were announced today and include compulsory thermal screening and installing the Aarogya Setu app on mobile phones.