The fare structure of the special trains will be as applicable for the regular time tabled Rajdhani Express train services or as per the regular time tabled train category notified by the coaching directorate.
Indian Railways passengers note! No pre-paid food, no blankets on special passenger trains! Amid nationwide lockdown due to novel coronavirus pandemic, Indian Railways has decided to run special passenger train services! According to a statement issued by the Railway Board, the fare structure of the special trains will be as applicable for the regular time tabled Rajdhani Express train services or as per the regular time tabled train category notified by the coaching directorate. These trains will start operations from 12 May 2020 from NDLS to various places such as Bilaspur, Secunderabad, Madgaon, Ahmedabad, Jammu Tawi, Howrah, Chennai, Patna, Dibrugarh, Mumbai Central, Bengaluru, Thiruvananthapuram, Agartala, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar. Here, take a look at the catering and linen rules for these special trains as listed by the Railway Board in a circular accessed by Financial Express Online.
Will passengers get IRCTC pre-booked food on-board the special passenger trains?
According to the national transporter, no catering charges will be included in the fare. Also, provision for booking of pre-paid meals or food items will be disabled. However, the official catering arm of Indian Railways, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) can make provision for limited eatables as well as packaged drinking water on a payment basis, it stated. Passengers will be provided will all the related information during the time of ticket booking.
The Railway Board has stated that the tickets for these special train services can only be booked online via the official IRCTC website (irctc.co.in) or through the IRCTC mobile application. The counter ticket operations at railway stations across the nation will continue to remain shut. Apart from this, passengers will now be able to book tickets for these special train services through authorized agents of IRCTC or Indian Railways. As per the cancellation policy, the cancellation for these special trains will be allowed up to 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the train. The cancellation charge will be 50% of the ticket fare.