IRCTC suspends bookings for its three private trains till April 30: official

Railway subsidiary IRCTC which runs three private trains in the country has decided to suspend their services till April 30, officials said on Tuesday.

The bookings for the three trains -- the Kashi Mahakal Express on the Varanasi-Indore route, the Lucknow-New Delhi Tejas and the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas -- were earlier stopped only between March 25 and April 14 during the nationwide lockdown due to the coronavirus crisis, and booking of tickets for travel after the lockdown period was allowed.

Officials said the decision to not run the trains till April 30 was taken keeping in mind that the cases of coronavirus in the country were increasing by the day.

All passengers who have booked tickets during that period will get full refunds, an Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) official said.

"In view of the COVID-19 situation, IRCTC Tejas Express Train between Lucknow- Delhi, EJN-NDLS-LJN, the Ahmedabad-Mumbai Tejas and the Kashi Mahakal Express train running between Varanasi and Indore, stands cancelled for journey dates up to April 30.

"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.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had announced a three-week nationwide lockdown starting March 25 to contain the spread of coronavirus. During the 21-day lockdown, only railways' freight movement is active to transport essential commodities across the country.