These are the 15 Railway train routes for which IRCTC booking will open at 4 pm on Monday

The Indian Railways on Sunday announced that it would begin the gradual operation of passenger trains amid the COVID-19 pandemic. These passenger trains would operate from New Delhi to 15 important destinations of the country. Online booking for these trains will open at 4 pm on Monday on the IRCTC website as per a press release by the Indian Railways. 

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Inferring from the Railways notification, here's the list of 15 routes that will be connected via 15 pairs of trains (30 return journeys):

1. New Delhi to Dibrugarh
2. New Delhi to Agartala
3. New Delhi to Howrah
4. New Delhi to Patna
5. New Delhi to Bilaspur
6. New Delhi to Ranchi
7. New Delhi to Bhubaneswar
8. New Delhi to Secunderabad
9. New Delhi to Bengaluru
10. New Delhi to Chennai
11. New Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram
12. New Delhi to Madgaon
13. New Delhi to Mumbai Central
14. New Delhi to Ahmedabad
15. New Delhi to Jammu Tawi

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Railways to begin operations from May 12

In a major announcement, the Indian Railways said it plans to gradually restart passenger train operations from May 12, initially with 15 pairs of trains (30 return journeys). These trains will be run as special trains from New Delhi Station connecting Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi. 

In a statement, the Ministry of Railways said the state-run transporter shall start more special services on new routes, based on the available coaches after reserving 20,000 coaches for COVID-19 care centres and an adequate number of coaches being reserved to enable operation of up to 300 trains every day as “Shramik Special” for stranded migrants.

Booking for reservation on these trains will start at 4 pm on Monday and will be available only on the IRCTC website. However, ticket booking counters at the railway stations will remain shut and no counter tickets (including platform tickets) will be issued. Only passengers with valid confirmed tickets will be allowed to enter the railway stations.

Screening before departure

In line with the government's hygiene norms, it will be mandatory for passengers to wear face cover. They will also have to undergo screening at departure and only asymptomatic passengers will be allowed to board the train. Further details including train schedule will be issued separately in due course, the Ministry said.

Read: Indian Railways To Gradually Restart Operations With 15 Passenger Trains From May 12

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