The Indian Railways on Wednesday issued an order allowing waitlisting of passengers from May 22 for journeys not just on the special trains, but also on all its upcoming services, reported PTI.

The railways on Tuesday restarted its passenger services after nearly 50 days of being shut due to the coronavirus-induced lockdown. Fifteen pairs of special trains are now connecting New Delhi with other cities in India. The lockdown, which has been extended twice, is scheduled to end in three days.

In the new order, the railways has restricted the waiting list on trains to up to 100 passengers for the AC three tier coach, 50 for AC two tier coach, 200 for the sleeper class, 100 for chair cars and 20 each for first air-conditioned and executive class. This will apply to the tickets booked from May 15 for journeys that begin from May 22.

“We will start issuing very few waitlist tickets from May 22 because some passengers are cancelling their tickets at the last moment,” an unidentified senior railway ministry official told Hindustan Times.

The Indian Railways has also decided to refund the full fare in case a symptomatic passenger is prohibited from boarding a train, according to The Indian Express. “If during screening, a passenger has very high temperature/symptoms of covid-19, he shall not be allowed to travel despite having confirmed tickets. In such a case, full refund shall be provided to the passenger,” the government order read.

The Shatabdi Express and other mail express trains may also be operated soon. The currently operational special trains are all air-conditioned Rajdhani only.

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