New Delhi: Effective October 10, the Indian Railways will allow the booking and cancellation of tickets 30 minutes to 5 minutes before the train’s departure. This is applicable to all special trains.

Owing to the pandemic, all passenger trains have been cancelled and in their place, the Ministry of Railways has introduced Special Trains. The Ministry aims to run more than 200 trains during the festive season between October 15 and November 30.

In the pre-Covid days, the second reservation chart was printed 30 minutes before the departure and the first chart was prepared four hours before the train leaves the station. Due to the pandemic, however, the second chart was being printed two hours before departure.

As per the new rules, the Ministry has decided to resume with the chart procedures as per the pre-Covid times and passengers can book and cancel tickets before the preparation of the second chart. This also allows passengers to avail vacant seats that were cancelled after the first chart.

Indian Railways said in a statement, “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.”

The statement also added that both online and PRS ticket counters will be available for ticket booking before the preparation of the second chart. Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) will make the necessary adjustments to the software to accommodate the new provisions that are coming to effect from today.