india

Updated: Oct 01, 2019 20:14 IST

In a first, Indian Railways’ subsidiary Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), will provide compensation to passengers if the train arrives late, the Ministry of Railways announced on Tuesday. The Railways announced this provision for the Tejas Express which is scheduled to begin operations on Friday from Lucknow to New Delhi.

IRCTC will pay compensation of Rs 100, in case the train is delayed by more than one hour and Rs 250 in case of delay of more than two hours to every passenger as compensation. The base fare for the train’s economy AC chair car class begins from Rs 1410.

The Tejas Express is part of the first two rakes handed over to IRCTC to be operated on a private basis. The first rake will run between Delhi-Lucknow and the second from Ahmedabad-Mumbai on a pilot basis.

IRCTC also aims to provide complementary travel insurance to passengers.

“To attract more passengers to come and book with IRCTC Tejas Express, the company is offering complementary travel insurance coverage worth Rs 25 lakh to each and every passenger. The travel insurance will also include a coverage Rs 1 lakh against household theft/robbery during the travel period of the passengers,” the ministry said.

According to a senior railway ministry official, to avail the benefit the passengers have to file a claim with the insurance company in the link provided online. On submission of the required documents , the insurance company will settle the claim within 2-3 days.

“As the issuance of policy numbers will be delayed for the current reservation and on train bookings and a claim can be processed only after issuance of policy, it may take 3 to 4 days after the date of journey to process such claims,” the official said.

As part of its 100 day agenda, the ministry decided to hand over certain rakes for private operations in a bid to increase its revenue. The private players will operate the trains on haulage charges.