People who have booked tickets on the cancelled trains will receive a full refund without deduction of any cancellation charge.
The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the tourism and travel industry in an unprecedented manner, with the Indian Railways cancelling at least 155 trains due to poor patronage. On Thursday alone, the Railways cancelled 84 trains between March 20 and March 31, in view of low occupancy and the pandemic. Railway officials said the trains to be cancelled were identified on Wednesday night and the decision will be effective from March 20 until March 31. “All passengers having tickets in these 155 trains are being informed about it individually. No cancellation fee will be deducted for these trains. Passengers will get 100% refund,” an official told PTI. On Tuesday, South Central Railway cancelled 29 trains. On Thursday, South Western Railway cancelled nine trains, and 29 trains have been cancelled by Southern Railway due to the pandemic. Most of these trains have been cancelled until March 31. Senior railway officials informed a parliamentary panel on Wednesday that more than 60% tickets were cancelled in March due to coronavirus. The Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture had convened a special meeting with the railway and aviation ministries, seeking an update on the precautions taken by them in view of the infection that has led to three deaths in the country. The Railways has issued advisories to all zones to restrict gathering of crowds at platforms, had sanitised coaches and issued a set of guidelines for its catering staff. Railway Minister Piyush Goyal also held a high-level meeting on Tuesday and formed a response team comprising executive directors (ED) from the Railway Board – consisting of the ED of passenger marketing, the ED of health planning and ED of environment management among others to deal with COVID-19. This team will coordinate all COVID-19 preparedness activities, monitor progress through online dashboard and other forums, resolve issues of railway zones/PUs, issue advisories and media briefings, and prepare positions for review meetings at various forums. One nodal officer from each railway zone will serve as a point of contact for all COVID-19 preparedness measures and will be in constant touch with the Railway Board’s response team. The Railways has also increased the price of platform tickets at over 500 stations to Rs 50 from Rs 10 to avoid huge rush or gatherings at major stations across the country. A railway official told IANS that after airlines, the national transporter is the second to suffer the most drop in passengers due to COVID-19. According to Raildrishti, a drop of over 30% has been witnessed in the passengers category in the last few days. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) stock also suffered. IRCTC shares fell by 50% from last month’s all-time high after the cancellation of trains, and hit 5% of the lower circuit, which is the least price a stock can fall, indicating investors were losing faith in a stock that saw stellar response when it listed. It could also mean that investors anticipate more trains to be cancelled and IRCTC’s business to be hit. With agency inputs
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