No cancellation charges on rail tickets

NEW DELHI, Aug 3:  The railways has decided that no cancellation charge will be taken from passengers till Tuesday morning if they cancel reserved tickets booked for their journey originating from Jammu, Katra and Udhampur stations, sources in the Ministry said today.
Only clerkage charge shall be taken, they said.
While the order has been issued, the Centre For Railway Information Systems (CRIS) needs to be updated so that this facility is made available from 8 am Sunday to 8 am Tuesday, the sources said.
The decision comes in the wake of the Jammu and Kashmir administration asking Amarnath Yatris to cut short their pilgrimage and tourists to return, citing emergency situation.
Earlier, Air India announced waiver of cancellation fee on rescheduling or cancellation for all its flights to and from Srinagar till August 15.
The Civil Aviation Ministry also advised airlines to keep fares from Srinagar in check as Amarnath pilgrims and tourists prepared to leave the Kashmir valley, a day after the J&K administration asked them to curtail their stay due to security threats.
According to Airports Authority of India (AAI), 6,126 passengers reported at the Srinagar International Airport today to travel out of the Valley.
Out of this, 5,829 passengers travelled by 32 scheduled flights. Remaining 387 passengers were accommodated in four IAF aircraft and flown to various destination like Jammu, Pathankot and Hindon.
“The Ministry of Civil Aviation has advised the airlines to rein in the surging ticket prices, on flights coming out of Srinagar, for yatris returning from the Amarnath dham,” a source said.
Travel websites today showed the ticket prices on Srinagar-Delhi route between Rs 11,000 and Rs 20,000 for August 4.
The ticket prices for Srinagar-Mumbai flights for August 4 started from Rs 14,000 onward.
The Ministry of Civil Aviation said on Twitter, “Hon’ble Minister for Civil Aviation Hardeep Singh Puri has asked all the airlines to rein in the surging air fares for pilgrims returning from Amarnath dham.”
The AAI said all passengers were flown out of the valley in a planned and systematic manner. The entire operation was conducted smoothly by AAI officials in close coordination with IAF, J&K Police, CRPF, BSF, the airlines and State authorities, it said.
Aviation Regulator Directorate General of Civil Aviation had advised airlines on Friday to be ready to operate additional flights from the Srinagar airport if the need arises. (PTI)

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