Three trains to depart from New Delhi station as railways resumes passenger services

Mumbai and Ahmedabad

New Delhi, May 11

The New Delhi railway station, in the heart of the national capital, will see the departure of three special trains for Dibrugarh, Bengaluru and Bilaspur on Tuesday, around 50 days after a nationwide lockdown caused the suspension of all passenger train services.

The same day, five other trains bound for Delhi would leave from Patna, Bengaluru, Howrah, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, the railways said. The fares would be equivalent to Rajdhani fares, it said.

However, several Shramik Special trains have run from the station over the last week to transport thousands of stranded migrant workers to their native places.

The Northern Railways, in a statement, said the entry to the New Delhi station would be from the Paharganj side for all confirmed ticket holders. No entry for passengers holding such tickets would be permitted from the Ajmeri Gate side, it added.

For now, the Railways has issued a timetable for trains to be run between May 12 and May 20. These trains will have only AC classes — first, second and third AC. The fare structure shall be as applicable for the regular time-tabled Rajdhani trains (excluding catering charges).

On May 13, eight trains will depart from New Delhi to be headed for Howrah, Rajendra Nagar, Jammu Tawi, Thiruvananthapuram, Chennai, Ranchi, Mumbai Central and Ahmedabad. Another train will leave Bhubaneswar for New Delhi.

On May 14, the train leaving New Delhi will head for Bhubaneswar, while one train each will leave Dibrugarh, Jammu Tawi, Bilaspur and Ranchi with New Delhi as their destination.

On May 15, a train each will leave Thiruvananthapuram and Chennai Central for New Delhi, while one bound for Madgaon will depart from Delhi.

As per the railway timetable, no trains are scheduled on May 16 and May 19.

May 17 will see two departures — Madgain to New Delhi and New Delhi to Secunderabad.

The only train scheduled on May 18 is from Agartala to New Delhi, while two trains scheduled on May 20 are from New Delhi to Agartala and Secunderabad to New Delhi.

Officials said as per the guidelines, the e-ticket issued by the IRCTC would work as an e-pass for the movement of drivers to and from the station to pick or drop passengers.

All passengers arriving at the Delhi railway station would have to abide by the health protocols as prescribed by the state government, officials said.

On arrival at their destinations, the travelling passengers would have to adhere to such health protocols as were prescribed by the destination state/UT, they said.

Under normal circumstances, the New Delhi Railway station is one of the busiest stations in the country. A total of 351 trains arrive/depart from this station daily with a footfall of more than 5.20 lakh passengers each day. PTI