Back To Square One: Railways To Charge Pre-COVID Fares, Drop ‘Special Train’ Tag

New Delhi: Indian Railways will discontinue the ‘special’ tag for mail and express trains, and revert to pre-COVID pandemic fares with immediate effect.

Regular passenger train services were stopped after the COVID-induced lockdown last year. Once lockdown was eased, the Railways has been running special trains with slightly higher fares to discourage people from avoidable travels.

The Railway Board on Friday wrote to zonal railways directing trains to be operated with their regular numbers and fares to revert to pre-COVID rates.

“In view of the COVID-19 pandemic, all regular mail/express trains were being operated as MSPC (mail/express special) and HSP (holiday special). It has now been decided that the MSPC and HSP train services, included in the Working Time Table, 2021, shall be operated with regular numbers and with fares as applicable for the concerned classes of travel and type of train, as per the extant guidelines. This issues with the concurrence of Passenger Marketing Directorate of Railway Board,” stated the order dated November 12.

Though the order is with immediate effect, the process is expected to take a day or two to be regularised.

About 1,700 trains will be restored in the next few days. The first digit of long-distance trains will no longer be zero, as was the case with special trains.