Last minute change in plan not an issue anymore, as Indian Railways‘ new rule allows booking and cancelation of train tickets up to five minutes before the departure. By Kumar Shree
The new rule by Indian Railways brings a major change to ticket booking and cancellation process. Brought into effect from October 10, 2020, it allows passengers to book or cancel their ticket up to five minutes before the train’s departure, and is applicable both for online as well as offline bookings. It also applies for special trains running during the pandemic.
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Apart from this, the railways is soon going to restore its system of preparing a second chart of reservation, half an hour before the scheduled departure. The process was discontinued earlier when the Indian Railways had resumed services after the nationwide lockdown.
As reported by Swarajya, a statement issued by the Indian Railways said, “As per the request of Zonal Railways for ensuring convenience of rail passengers, the matter has been examined, and it has been decided that the second reservation chart shall be prepared at least 30 minutes before scheduled/rescheduled time of departure of the train.”
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“Ticket booking facility, both online and on Passenger Reservation System (PRS) ticket counters, shall be available, before preparation of second chart. The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) will make necessary modifications in the software accordingly so as to restore this provision with effect from October 10,” it added.
Now with the new rule in place, the first chart will be prepared four hours before the train’s departure, and the second chart will be prepared between 30 minutes to five minutes before the train’s departure, hence, allowing passengers to book or cancel tickets even at the 11th hour.
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