As part of Indian Railways’ efforts to normalize passenger services as well as revert back to pre-covid times in a phased manner, the Passenger Reservation System of the national transporter will shut down for six hours during the lean business hours of the night for the next seven days i.e., from 14 November to 21 November 2021, according to a PTI report. The step has been taken by the national transporter to enable upgradation of system data, new train numbers as well as other work, the Railway Ministry said recently. Since a huge amount of old train numbers, as well as current passenger booking data, is to be updated in all mail or express trains, this is being planned in a series of carefully calibrated steps and in a bid to minimize the impact on ticketing services, the move is implemented during night hours.
The Railway Ministry said that the activity will be performed starting from the intervening night of November 14 and November 15 to the night of November 20 and November 21, starting at 11:30 PM and ending at 05:30 AM. During the period of these six hours (from 11:30 PM to 05:30 AM), no Passenger Reservation System (PRS) services such as train ticket reservation, current booking, enquiry services, ticket cancellation, among others, will be available.
The ministry further said that besides railway personnel, the step will ensure advance charting for the train services to start during the affected timings. The ministry also noted that except for the Passenger Reservation System services, all other enquiry services, including railway helpline number 139 services, will continue uninterrupted.
The Railway Ministry has requested its customers to support the ministry in the effort to normalize as well as upgrade the railway passenger services. An order has been issued by Indian Railways, on Friday, to discontinue the ‘special’ tag for mail and express train services and revert to pre-Covid pandemic train ticket prices with immediate effect. However, according to the officials, the curbs and measures introduced in view of the Covid-19 pandemic such as temporary restrictions on concessions, bedrolls as well as meal services, would continue to be in effect.
