Delhi: Railway ticket counters open again

NEW DELHI: Queues were back at ticket counters of Delhi’s railway stations on Friday with thousands coming on the first day to secure reservation for trains scheduled to run from June 1.
The counter services are being restored in a phased manner, the railway ministry has announced. At the moment, 20 ticketing counters are available in Delhi, each catering to hundreds of people, a railway official said.
“Social distancing is maintained, and Railway Protection Force and other railway personnel are in place to ensure gaps are kept as people queue up. While this is largely to book tickets, cancellations and all other procedures ticketing counters would normally carry out are also being offered,” said a Northern Railway official.
Out of the 20 counters in Delhi, 18 are functioning in two shifts — from 8am to 2pm and 2pm to 8pm, with the staff changing after every six hours. Two other counters — one at Parliament and another at the Railway Board — will function only in the first half of the day.
Like station platforms and trains, the premises of all counters were also sanitised before operations resumed, said an official. The counters will also be periodically disinfected, he added.
However, the station counters are not the only place where people can buy tickets. “Besides counters at stations, people can book or cancel tickets at post offices, Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra licensees and through authorised agents of IRCTC,” the ministry has said. The zonal railways have been instructed to decide and notify opening of reservation counters as per local conditions.