Railways Start Tatkal Bookings For 230 Special Trains

The Indian Railways has now allowed passengers to book tickets under the Tatkal quota for 230 special trains (115 pairs) that are being currently operated as special trains amid the coronavirus pandemic. Passengers will be able to book tickets to travel from 30 June onwards.

Currently, the Railway department is running are 230 special trains (115 pairs) and all usual train services have been cancelled till 12 August.

In a tweet, Shivaji M Sutar, Chief Public Relations Officer, Central Railway, said: "Tatkal Booking will commence from 29/06/2020 in all Special Trains (starting with 0 numbers) for journey commencing from 30/06/2020 onwards."

Under the Tatkal quota, passengers can make a booking from 10 am onwards on the day before they wish to travel over the IRCTC website or app. Bookings open at 10 am for AC class and at 11 am for the sleeper class. These tickets are priced higher than regular bookings.

The Indian Railways is running special trains after suspending regular operations on 25 March. On 12 May, it commenced operations with 12 pairs on Rajdhani route and 100 more pairs of trains were added on 1 June.

The advance reservation period on these special trains has been increased from 30 to 120 days now.

Before the lockdown, the Railways operated around 12,000 trains every day, transporting 2 crore people. However, all regular mail, express and passenger services as well as suburban trains have been cancelled till 12 August 2020. The Indian Railways will provide a full refund on these cancelled tickets.