Train ticket booking will also resume at counters of different stations in the next 2-3 days.Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said the government will announce new trains in the coming days

NEW DELHI :
The Indian Railways has decided to start more trains in the coming days and also allow offline train ticket booking through counters at specific stations and common service centres across India in the coming days.”We are going to announce the resumption of more trains in the upcoming days. We have also permitted the operation of shops at railway stations. However, only takeaways will be allowed,” Railway Minister Piyush Goyal said adding that it is now time to take India towards normalcy.
He also announced that booking of train tickets will resume at around 1.7 lakh common service centres from tomorrow across India. Common Service Centres are physical facilities for delivering e-services of the government at rural and remote locations where availability of computers and internet is negligible or absent.
The minister also said that bookings will also resume at counters at specific stations over the next two to three days.
“We are developing a protocol to identify the stations…we will also soon announce the resumption of more trains,” Goyal said during a conversation with his party colleague and BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra.
The minister said there are so many people who want to return to work in cities which is a very good sign.
“Some states did not cooperate with us to run special trains for sending back migrant workers to their homes. I think there are around 40 lakh people who want to return to West Bengal but only 27 special trains have entered the state so far,” Goyal said.
The railways started the Shramik Special trains to transport the stranded migrant workers, students, pilgrims and tourists from May 1. The national transporter also started to run the 15 pairs of Special AC trains from May 12.
On Thursday, the bookings for the 100 pairs of trains opened and in the first two bour the railways sold 1.49 lakh tickets for 2.9 lakh passengers in 73 trains.
A senior Railway Ministry official said that by 12 noon, 73 trains were made available in the system for booking.
“And in the first two hours 1,49,025 tickets booked for 2,90,510 passengers,” the official said.
The tickets are being booked online through the IRCTC website and its mobile application.
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