New Train Ticket Booking Rule Comes Into Effect, Reservation Period Cut By 60 Days

Indian Railways has introduced a major change in its ticketing rule, reducing the advance reservation period (ARP) from the current 120 days to 60 days. The new rules came into effect from Friday (November 1). The railways had released a circular on October 16, informing passengers about the rules change. This change comes into effect just before winter sets in and the festive season. The rationale given for the major change is to promote genuine passengers and minimise rising “no-show trend”.

“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 rule change means passengers won’t be able to book tickets three months (or more) in advance. However, those who have already booked their tickets will not be affected.

“Based on the emerging reservation trends & passenger’s uncertainty of travel, Indian Railways keeps changing their ARP policy,” the PIB release further said.

The government also informed that the 365-day ARP limit for foreign tourists remains unchanged.

The advance reservation period was last revised in 2015. Till 1998, this period was as low as 30 days.

The ticketing for train journey is handled by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The public sector enterprise was established in 1999 by the Government of India and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways. As of December 2023, IRCTC has 66 million registered users and an average of 7.31 lakh tickets booked per day

IRCTC also manages catering services at stations, on trains and other locations.