Lockdown: Railways to refund full money, asks passengers not to cancel tickets

New Delhi: Railways on Wednesday said that passengers should not rush to cancel their tickets on their own for the trains already halted by Railways in view of lockdown due to novel coronavirus else they will not get full refund.

"Doubts have been raised regarding cancellation of e-tickets subsequent to the halting of Railway passengers trains. For trains cancelled in its complete run, refund on e-tickets is full and automatic . In this case,no cancellation exercise is required to be done on the part of passengers. However, if the user or passenger cancels e-ticket in situations of train cancellations, there are chances he/she may get less refund. Hence passengers are advised not to cancell e- tickets on their own for those trains which have been cancelled by Railways," IRTC spokesperson said on Wednesday.

He added that trains cancelled by Railways can be seen on National Train Enquiry System ( NTES ).

"Refund amount will be credited to the user account used for booking of e-tickets automatically. No charges are deducted by the Railways in case of train cancellation.

For the counter tickets Railways said the refund period has been extended from existing three days to three months now.

"Therefore, passengers are getting sufficient time and should avoid to go to stations during this crisis," officials said.

Meanwhile, Railway has said that its goods trains are running to ensure transportation of essential supplies.

Railway minister Piyush Goyal tweeted saying "Railways is dedicated to ensuring that essential goods reach all the citizens amidst COVID19 lockdown," and added visuals of paddy being loaded into a freight train in Tamil Nadu.