IRCTC to restart Tejas Express trains from October 17 ahead of festive season

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is all set to restart operation of Tejas Express trains on the Lucknow to New Delhi and Ahmedabad to Mumbai routes for catering to the growing passenger demand ahead of the upcoming festive season. Both the trains are expected to restart operations from October 17, it said in a statement on Wednesday.

The operation of these two Tejas trains was suspended from March 19 due to spread of COVID-19 pandemic. IRCTC said it has got approval from the Ministry of Railways to again start the operation of these two popular corporate trains. Bookings will open shortly.

All-round preparations are underway to ensure that the trains match expectations of people in terms of service levels besides safety and health protocols. Every alternate seat will be kept vacant initially following the social distancing norms. All passengers will be provided a COVID-19 protection kit which will contain a bottle of hand sanitiser, a face mask, a face shield and a pair of gloves. They will go through thermal screening and hand sanitisation process before entering a coach.

IRCTC said it has conducted an extensive training programme to train its team of employees which has been told to follow standard operating procedures to ensure passenger safety.