Indian Railways reduces advance booking window from 120 to 60 Days from Nov 1

• Ministry of Railways reduces the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) from 120 days to 60 days.
• The changes will take effect starting November 1, 2024.
• Bookings made before October 31 will remain unaffected.
  

The Ministry of Railways announced that Indian Railways has reduced the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) from 120 days to 60 days, starting from November 1, 2024. This change does not include the date of travel.

This marks the 12th time the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) has been changed since 1981. The shortest ARP was 30 days, in effect from September 1995 to February 1998. Indian Railways extended the ARP to 120 days in April 2015.

The Ministry explained that the change in the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) is intended to make the booking process easier for genuine passengers. Based on experience over the years, a 60-day Advance Reservation Period has proven to be the most suitable for passengers. This decision will help the Railway Board better gauge the true demand for train travel in India. It was noted that around 21 per cent of bookings made between 61 and 120 days before travel were cancelled.

Additionally, 5 per cent of passengers neither cancelled their tickets nor travelled, leading to a "No Show" trend, which played a role in the decision. The change will also help Indian Railways plan special trains more efficiently during busy seasons.

It's important to note that the new rules for advance train ticket booking will not affect tickets that have already been booked.
There are no changes for daytime Express trains like the Taj Express and Gomti Express, where shorter advance booking periods are already in place. The 365-day booking limit for foreign tourists will also remain unchanged.