Indian Railways has shortened its reservation period from 120 days to 60 days. The changes have come into effect on November 1. The decision was conveyed through a circular dated October 16 when winter and festival travel periods were ahead. The whole objective of the move was to improve the efficiency of the reservation and ensure an actual passenger can board the seat.

What does the new rule mean for travelers?

This means that tickets can now be booked by passengers only two months in advance, cut from the previous four months. However, passengers who have already booked tickets beyond this new limit are not affected by the rule revision, meaning that existing reservations remain valid.

The revision arrives in the wake of observable booking patterns. A PIB release reports that "about 21 percent of reservations done for 61 to 120 days were being canceled," and around "5 percent of passengers were neither canceling their tickets nor traveling." This high rate of "no-shows" created inefficiencies and impacted the availability of seats for last-minute travelers.

Targeting efficiency in peak season

Indian Railways believes that this reduction in ARP will allow better planning of the journey during peak seasons so that special trains can be planned without much ado. This decision comes as a step in accordance with the adaptive ARP policy of the Railway, which keeps on changing as per the “emerging reservation trends & passenger’s uncertainty of travel,” as noted in the PIB release.

This change in rule will not affect international tourists, as tickets are available for reservation 365 days in advance; hence, their plans to travel remain unchanged.

Previous ARP changes

For the first time since 2015, ARP has changed; however, throughout history, the number of days allowed for ticket reservations has differed greatly.  In 1998, travelers could book tickets only 30 days ahead, underlining how reservation policies have adjusted to meet evolving travel demands.

IRCTC in facilitated tourism

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation is a public enterprise that, since 1999, has handled all train ticket bookings for the country. IRCTC has 66 million registered users and processes an average of 731,000 tickets daily. The corporation aims to improve passenger experiences through constant adaptation of its services and policies to evolving travel needs and seasonal demands.

As the changes take effect, passengers can look forward to better ticket availability and a smoother booking experience, while Indian Railways looks forward to curbing the "no-show" trend for more efficient train travel across the nation.