Mumbai: The Railway Board has reduced the advance reservation period of seats from existing 120 days to 60 days with effect from November 1, 2024.
"It has been decided that from 01st November 2024, the existing time limit for advance reservations by trains will be reduced from 120 days to 60 days (excluding the date of journey)" stated the letter written by Sanjay Manocha, director passengers- marketing , railway board to the Principal Chiefs Commercial Managers of all zonal railways and managing director of Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) recently.
"With effect from 01st November 2024, the ARP( Advance Reservation Period) will be of 60 days (excluding the day of journey) and bookings will be done accordingly. However, all the bookings done upto 31st November 2024 under the ARP of 120 days will remain intact" stated the letter.
Cancellations of the booking made beyond the ARP of 60 days will, however, be permitted. There will be no change in the case of certain day time express trains like Taj Express, Gomti Express, etc. where lower time limits for advance reservations are, at present, in force. The letter also stated that, "There will also be no change in the case of limit of 365 days for Foreign Tourists" further stated the letter. The circular did not cite any reason for the reduction in ARP.
"The Ministry of Railways has announced this change in the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) for train bookings by Indian travelers in order to promote genuine passengers" said an official adding that the decision will help the Railway Board to improve the visibility of genuine demand for rail travel in India.
"With a shorter ARP, passengers will now once again have better clarity in their travel plans, reducing the current 21% cancellation rate. This important policy decision of advance reservation period was last time revised to 120 days from 60 days with effect from 1st January 2015. In the remote past, during 1st September 1995 to January 1998, this period was as low as 30 days," said official.
"It was being noticed that about 21 percent of reservations done for 61 to 120 day periods were getting cancelled. Further, 5 percent of passengers were neither canceling 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" said an official adding that the 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 the emerging reservation trends and passenger’s uncertainty of travel, Indian Railways keeps changing their ARP policy. Certain daytime express trains like the Taj Express and Gomti Express will continue to follow the lower time limits for advance reservations. The 365-day ARP limit for foreign tourists remains unchanged. All existing Bookings made under the 120-day ARP prior to October 31, 2024, will remain valid. Reservations made beyond the new ARP of 60 days will still be eligible for cancellation.
"The new policy aims to tackle the issue of passengers not showing up without canceling tickets, which often leads to impersonation and fraud. The Indian Railways urges all passengers to be informed of this change and encourages early bookings within the revised ARP to ensure smooth travel planning. A 60-day booking window is likely to help reduce the chances of ticket hoarding, making more tickets available for genuine passengers" he said.
