Railway Board issues order to drop ‘special train’ tag

The Indian Railways has issued an order to discontinue the ‘special’ tag for mail and express trains and to revert to pre-pandemic ticket prices with immediate effect.

Since the coronavirus-triggered lockdown was eased, the Railways has only been running special trains. It started with long-distance trains and now even short-distance passenger services are being run as special trains with “slightly higher fares” to discourage people from avoidable travels.