Indian Railways alert! IRCTC suspends all private trains till April 30

Indian Railways' e-ticketing, catering and tourism arm Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has suspended bookings for some specific trains that are run by it, till April 30. The passengers who have booked tickets for trains running during this period, will get full refund. As of now, the IRCTC runs three private trains which include 2 Tejas trains and 1 Kashi Mahakal Express.

"Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has decided to suspend bookings for trains that are run by it, till April 30, 2020. IRCTC runs three trains as of now, 2 Tejas trains and 1 Kashi Mahakal Express,” a spokesperson said. 

The decision was taken because the number of coronavirus cases in India are on a rise.

"Full ticket fare will be refunded automatically, without any cancellation charges, to all the users/passengers having booked tickets for journey during the above (mentioned) period. Inconvenience caused is deeply regretted. There is no need for cancellation of tickets by users," a statement from IRCTC said.

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To recall, all the other passenger, mail and express train services have been cancelled till April 14 in the wake on the ongoing coronavirus crisis. Only the freight and special parcel trains are running to ensure the delivery of essential items.

In other efforts, the Indian Railways has developed a low-cost ventilator named `Jeevan` at its Kapurthala coach factory as the country faces ventilator`s shortage amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The ventilator will cost around Rs 10,000 without the compressor. According to the Railway Ministry officials, `Jeevan` is awaiting the Indian Council of Medical Research`s (ICMR) nod before start of mass production.

On the development, Railway Minister Piyush Goyal tweeted, "In fight against coronavirus, the engineers at the Kapurthala Rail Coach Factory have developed a prototype of a ventilator named `Jeevan`, which is extremely inexpensive. This ventilator made with indigenous technology will be a great relief for our comrades fighting the the corona epidemic."