Indian Railways goes back to 60-day advance ticket booking window

Reverses 2015 order on 120-day advance booking for operational efficiency

The Ministry of Railways has reduced the advance ticket booking window on Indian Railways from 120 days to 60 days, with officials citing operational efficiencies and increased convenience for passengers.

According to an order issued by the railway board, the 2015 provision allowing a four-month (120 days) advance ticket booking window has been eliminated.

“With effect from November 1, the advance reservation period (ARP) will be 60 days (excluding the day of journey), and bookings will be processed accordingly. However, all bookings made up to October 31 under the previous ARP of 120 days will remain intact. Cancellations of bookings made beyond the 60-day ARP will be permitted,” the order stated.

 

The ministry, in a statement on Thursday evening, explained that this change is intended to enhance passenger convenience.

“This decision aims to improve ticket availability for genuine passengers and reduce instances of cancellations and no-shows, which result in wastage of reserved berths. Based on emerging reservation trends and passengers’ uncertainty about travel, Indian Railways continually adjusts its ARP policy. Certain daytime express trains, like the Taj Express and Gomti Express, will continue to follow the shorter advance reservation limits. The 365-day ARP limit for foreign tourists remains unchanged,” the ministry said.

In 2015, the ministry increased the advance booking window from 60 days to 120 days for better passenger convenience. Officials said that the trends and feedback have not met expectations, leading to this reversal.

“A 120-day period was too long for planning, resulting in high cancellation rates and wasted seats/berths due to passengers not showing up for their journeys. Currently, there are about 21 per cent cancellations, and 4-5 per cent of passengers do not show up. In many cases, this leads to fraud, such as impersonation and illegal money transactions by railway officials. Now, this can be prevented,” a senior government official said.

The official added that longer booking periods increase the likelihood of artificial ticket blocking, while shorter periods will encourage more ticket purchases by genuine passengers. Prior to 2015, the ARP was as low as 30 days at times.

With the festival season prompting the railways to run special trains to accommodate increased demand, officials expect this decision to facilitate better planning of special services.

The new policy aims to address the issue of passengers not showing up without cancelling their tickets. The railways urged all passengers to make early bookings within the revised ARP to ensure smooth travel planning.

A 60-day booking window is expected to reduce the chances of ticket hoarding, making more tickets available for genuine passengers, the statement added.

Gaps in the existing system
 

- Excessive planning time: 120-day booking window is too long

- Cancellation rate: Around 21% of tickets are cancelled

- No-show rate: 4-5% of passengers do not show up

- Wasted capacity: High cancellations lead to empty seats

- Fraud risk: Increased chance of impersonation and illegal transactions

- Policy shift: New measures aim to reduce these issues