Indian Railways has cut down the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) from 120 days to 60 days with effect from November 1; excluding the date of the journey .

The Ministry of Railways had announced this change in the ARP for train bookings by Indian travelers in order to promote genuine passengers.

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This new rule will help the Railway Board to improve the visibility of genuine demand for rail travel in India. It was being noticed that about 21 per cent of reservations done for 61 to 120 day periods were getting cancelled.

Further, 5 per cent 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 the Railways in better planning of special trains during peak seasons.

This new rule 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 & 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.

However, all existing bookings made under the 120-day ARP prior to October 31 will remain valid. Reservations made beyond the new ARP of 60 days will still be eligible for cancellation.

With a shorter ARP, passengers will now once again have better clarity in their travel plans, reducing the current 21 per cent cancellation rate. This important policy decision of advance reservation period was last time revised to 120 days from 60 days with effect from 1/1/2015. In the remote past, during 1/9/1995 to 31/1/1998, this period was as low as 30 days.

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.