Railways new rules- Reserved tickets booking in trains only before 60 days in advance

New Delhi| Indian Railways has reduced the period of advance reservation (ARP) for trains from 120 days to 60 days. This step will come into effect from 1 November. The new rules for train ticket booking will not affect bookings made before 1 November. All bookings made until 31 October will remain in place.

The Ministry of Railways said there would be no change in terms of the 365-day limit for foreign tourists. Following the announcement of this change, IRCTC shares were seen trading at Rs 867.60, down 2.2% at 14:20 pm. The ministry said there will be no change in the case of some day-long express trains like Taj Express, Gomti Express, where shorter time limits for advance reservation are already in force.

Railways has clarified in its statement that bookings made under the existing 120 days ARP (Advance Reservation Period) before October 31 will remain valid. At the same time, it has also been stated that cancellations of bookings beyond the new 60-day new ARP will still be allowed.

The new rule of reservation in trains will have a mixed impact on railway passengers. Some passengers will benefit from this while some are also likely to face problems. Right now passengers book tickets well in advance before the advance reservation window of train tickets opens 120 days in advance. Due to which people who suddenly planned to travel were not able to get tickets, hence these passengers will benefit from the new rule.

The new rules will also curb black marketing of tickets to a great extent. However, due to the long time given, earlier those with waiting tickets used to get benefit in terms of ticket confirmation. Due to getting more time, the chances of their ticket being confirmed were higher, now according to the new rule they may face some problems.