Railway ministry yesterday (Thursday, 28th May 2020) said that tatkal quota will be restored for 200 special trains starting from 1st June and 30 Rajdhani-type trains currently in operation. The Advance booking period of tickets for these trains has also been increased to 120 days from 30 days currently.
Indian Railways has also allowed booking of parcel and luggage in these passenger trains, an indication that the operation of the national transporter is slowly inching towards normalcy, after over a two-month long lockdown.
“The changes shall be implemented with effect from 08:00 hrs of train booking date of 31 May 2020 onwards,” an official statement from Ministry of Railways said.
Indian railways will start operations of 200 passenger services across key cities across the country from June 1. These trains will have fully reserverd air-conditioned as well as non-conditioned coaches. It had flagged off 30 special AC trains that started ferrying people to and from Delhi May 12 onwards. Graded restoration of train services, is in sync with the easing of stringent nationwide lockdown rules.
Earlier, the ministry had said that the advance reservation period or advance booking time will be a maximum of 30 days. While waitlisted tickets will be generated, passengers will be allowed to board trains only if the seat is confirmed. Tatkal and premium tatkal services will not be offered.