Image Source: TIMES NOW

Indian Railways restarted passenger train operations from 12th May 2020, initially with 15 pairs of trains (30 return journeys). These trains are being run as special trains from New Delhi Station connecting Dibrugarh, Agartala, Howrah, Patna, Bilaspur, Ranchi, Bhubaneswar, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Thiruvananthapuram, Madgaon, Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad and Jammu Tawi. The national transporter had made it mandatory for all passengers to confirm their awareness on “quarantine protocol” before booking their IRCTC train tickets for journeys. From now, only such passengers will be allowed to book tickets who confirm that they have read the COVID-19 Alert pop-up message on IRCTC website (www.irctc.co.in). Railways has decided to add this feature to the e-ticketing arm- IRCTC’s website, after some passengers of Delhi – Bengaluru special train had to be hauled back because they refused to go to institutional quarantine for a period of 14 days. While booking tickets on the IRCTC website, a pop-up will appear on the website’s screen, asking passengers or users to confirm if they have read and agree to abide by the health advisory of the destination state. Only after checking “ok”, they can proceed to book their tickets. The pop-up message says, " COVID 19 Alert: During COVID-19, You are Responsible for Your Own Health".

Here are the protocols listed in the message:
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*Use Face Mask, Maintain Social Distancing and Wash Hands Frequently.
* All passengers are hereby informed that downloading of Aarogya Setu App on their mobile phone, that they are carrying along, is mandatory.
* All Passenger to kindly note that on arrival at their destination, the travelling passengers will have to adhere to such health protocols as are prescribed by the destination State/UT. Click Here to see state wise advisory on * Arrival(As available). For other states, State Govt websites may be visited to ascertain the same.
* For trains cancelled till 30th June 2020 by Indian Railways, a full refund will be provided automatically by IRCTC. Users need not cancel their e-tickets. Full fare will be credited back into users accounts from which payment was made.
* Catering Service is not available and catering charges not included in the fare.
* No blanket and linen shall be provided in the train.