Railways waives cancellation charges for passengers travelling from Jammu and Kashmir

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 Uddhampur stations, sources in the ministry said on Saturday.

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 security concerns. Earlier, Air India announced waiver of cancellation fee on rescheduling or cancellation for all its flights to and from Srinagar till August 15.

Amid the intelligence inputs of terrorist attack threats in Jammu and Kashmir, authorities on Friday issued an advisory asking tourists and Amarnath Yatris to "immediately" curtail their stay in the Valley and return to their homes "as soon as possible".

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The advisory issued by Principal Secretary to Government Shaleen Kabra said that given the prevailing situation in Kashmir, it will be in the interest of safety and security of the tourists and Amarnath Yatris to leave the Valley.

Following the advisory, aviation regulator DGCA directed airlines to remain ready to operate additional flights from the Srinagar airport if the need arises, according to a source. The advisory came hours after the Indian Army, citing intelligence inputs, said Pakistan-based terrorists were planning to target the ongoing Amarnath Yatra.