Good news for train travellers! You can book your tickets 60 days before trip

The new rules will have no effect on general class ticket purchases. Passengers who have already booked their tickets will not be affected.

Published on: Nov 1, 2024, 19:10:54 IST

By HT News Desk

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New ticketing rules announced by the Indian Railways came into effect on Friday, November 1. Ticket reservation period has been cut short from the earlier window of 120 days to 60 days. Passengers will now be able to book their tickets 60 days in advance.

Railways also said the move will prevent mass ticket hoarding by agents and other non-travellers. (HT PHOTO)

The Southern Railway alerted passengers about the relaxed reservation rules in a post on X. The railways said the new rules will have no effect on general-class ticket purchases. Passengers who have already booked their tickets will not be affected.

The 365-day advance reservation policy for foreign tourists remains unchanged.

Also read | IIT Delhi partners with CRIS to enhance railway infrastructure, safety & operational efficiency

The latest measure for domestic passengers is expected to reduce ticket cancellation rates and no-show rates, where passengers do not travel despite holding a valid ticket.

Railways also said the move will prevent mass ticket hoarding by agents and other non-travellers. It will also help the authorities to forecast demand and plan for trains in a better manner.

"It was being noticed that about 21 per cent of reservations done for 61-to-120-day periods were getting cancelled. Further, 5 per cent of passengers were neither cancelling their tickets nor were they undertaking the journey. This No-Show trend was also one of the factors behind the decision, which will help Indian Railways in better planning of special trains during peak seasons," the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said in a release.

The 120-day ticket reservation window was introduced in 2015. It was as low as 30 days till 1998.

Also read | Railways ordered to compensate passenger ₹25,000 over toilet issues: Report

More trains for Chhath Pooja

Meanwhile, the Indian Railway is running more special trains to deal with the passenger rush during the festive season.

Dilip Kumar, Executive Director of Information and Publicity for Railway Board, said special arrangements are being made for people who travel for Chhath Pooja.

“We are running different trains to Bihar and Uttar Pradesh to clear the rush. Yesterday, we ran more than 160 trains and today we have planned to run more than 170 trains. Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railways Protection Force (RPF) staff have been deployed to manage the crowd and Rail Sewaks have been deployed to clear doubts regarding travelling,” the railway official said.

(With PTI inputs)

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HT News Desk
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