Buy a ticket early, upgrade it for free

Vacant seats to be allocated to confirmed ticket holders in a lower class without extra charges

People planning to travel by trains will have an extra incentive to book their tickets early as it will qualify them for an upgrade to a higher class without any extra charges.

In a proposal mooted by the railway ministry, the vacant seats will be allocated to confirmed ticket holders in a lower class. The beneficiaries will be identified on the basis of who booked the ticket first, according to a ministry official.

If there were still empty seats available, then even the waitlisted passengers may get a chance to travel in a higher class for no extra fare. The scheme would be applicable to all the classes.

For instance, vacant seats available in AC first class will be allotted to confirmed ticket holders of the AC second class. The empty seats in AC-II in turn will be allotted to those in AC-III. If there were still some seats available in AC-III, the waitlisted sleeper class passengers would get an upgrade.

Ministry official said that the scheme was aimed at giving travellers more value for their money as well as ensuring better capacity utilisation.

The process of adjustment will start four hours before the scheduled departure when the reservations close. The passengers will come to know whether they have been upgraded through reservation charts put up at the stations.

Officials said the Railways may be able to improve its earning if more waitlisted passengers were adjusted, as there would be fewer refunds.

However, the fact only AC first class was grossly underutilised during the peak period meant that very few vacant seats will be available for such adjustments. This is because the number of AC first class coaches had been reduced drastically. In addition, not all the trains had an AC first class coach or coaches.

Another consequence of this will be, the Railways may have to do away with the system of booking the tickets at the current counter, as there will be no vacant seats.

At present, tickets could be booked at the current counter till four hours before the scheduled departure of a train, if seats are available.

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NEW TRACK

• Vacant seats in a higher class will be allocated to confirmed ticket holders in a lower class
• Process of adjustment to start four hours before the scheduled departure
• Passengers to know the upgraded status through reservation charts put up at the stations