Indian Railways bookings: Key rules to know about ticket reservations
What's the story
Indian Railways allows passengers to book train tickets offline (through reservation counters) and online (via e-ticketing service- IRCTC's portal).
Advance bookings are typically made available up to 120 days prior to the scheduled departure of the train, for all trains and classes.
Here are key rules you should know about Indian Railways ticket reservations.
Rules (1)
Rules about maximum number of bookings and forms
A person can book upto 6 tickets on one request form, as long as all the passengers are booked in the same train and for the same destination.
Only one request form is accepted from one person at any given point of time.
However, in case of return journey, two or three forms are accepted per passenger.
Rules (2)
About allotment of berths and the booking time slots
Passengers who get a confirmed ticket are allotted berth at the time of booking, and the coach and berth numbers are reflected on the ticket.
The requests for booking at the reservation counters are accepted up to 4 hours before scheduled train departure.
Post that, reservations may be done at current counters up to one hour prior to the scheduled departure of train.
Rules (3)
About filling up of vacant seats; Concessions for senior citizens
In case, vacant seats are still available after counter bookings, the ticket collector may issue tickets to fill them up.
The Railways also provides concessions to senior citizen passengers.
Women aged 58 or above are given 50 per-cent concession on the base fare, and men aged 60 years or above are granted a 40% concession on the base fare of the journey.