New Delhi, April 14 The Indian Railways on Tuesday said that it has suspended the booking of rail tickets beyond the extended nationwide lockdown until further orders.
The announcement by the national transporter came soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his fourth special address to the nation announced the extension of lockdown by 19 more days till May 3 to combat the spread of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic crisis in the country.
The Railway Ministry in a statement said that all ticket counters for bookings including UTS (unreserved ticket) and PRS (Passenger Reservation System), will remain suspended till further orders.
It said, "No advance reservation of trains tickets, including E-tickets will be done after May 3, till further orders."
The Ministry also clarified that facility of online cancellation remains functional.
The national transporter said that full refund will also be there for those cancelling the advance bookings of tickets for trains not yet cancelled.
It further said that as far as trains cancelled upto May 3 is concerned, the refunds would be automatically done by the Railways to the tickets bought online online, while those who have booked at the counters, refund can be taken upto July 31.
The railways had suspended the reservation from March 24 till April 14 during the 21-day nationwide lockdown.
The railways earlier has not suspended the booking of trains tickets for train journeys beyond April 14.
( With inputs from IANS )