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New Indian Railways train ticket booking rules: Indian Railways has changed its advance train ticket booking rules. Sources told TOI that passengers will now be able to book IRCTC train tickets only 60 days in advance of the train’s scheduled departure, as against the current advance booking period of 120 days.
The new rule by Indian Railways will come into effect from November 1, 2024, sources told TOI.It is important to note that new rules for adavnce train ticket booking will not impact the already booked tickets. The sources added that the changes have been made considering that people could book tickets and plan travel much in advance, but in case any cancellation of trains, passengers faced problems.
Sources also added that the decision to cut the advance reservation period to 60 days has been taken considering factors such as people being able to plan spontaneous travel, accurate itinerary, better planning, adaptability to change in demands, responding to events, reducing cancellation and no show, besides better passenger flow. They said that touts were taking advantage of long advance ticket booking period.
IRCTC Train Tickets: New Indian Railways Advance Booking Rules Explained
- With effect from 01.11.2024, the ARP or Advance Reservation Period will be 60 days (excluding the day of journey) and bookings will be done accordingly. However, all bookings done up to 31.10.2024 under the ARP of 120 days will remain intact.
- Cancellations of the booking made beyond the ARP of 60 days will, however, be permitted
- There will be no change in the case of certain day time Express trains like Taj Express, Gomti Express, etc. where lower time limits for advance reservations are, at present, in force. There will also be no change in the case of limit of 365 days for foreign tourists
Meanwhile, Indian Railways is making significant strides in incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) to enhance its systems and processes. The organization has already implemented AI-enabled cameras for monitoring linen and food quality, and now it has deployed an AI model to optimize train occupancy. According to railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, “One Al model we used for checking the occupancy of trains had led to over 30% increase in the rate of confirmed tickets.”
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The AI model works by analyzing data and predicting seat availability after the reservation chart is prepared four hours before a train’s departure. This allows the system to allocate seats to passengers on the waiting list more efficiently. Vaishnaw told ET, “The AI model is able to study data and predict availability of seats, leading to greater confirmations.” The railways has moved away from the traditional approach of evenly distributing seats per station and now uses AI to identify stations with higher demand and adjusts the allocation accordingly.
In addition to improving seat allocation, the Indian Railways has also installed AI-based cameras in its kitchens to monitor cleanliness and detect abnormal behavior. A pilot project in Pune has achieved 100% verification of washed bed sheets using AI-trained cameras, a significant improvement from the previous 2% verification through sample checks. “Customer satisfaction has gone up 100% in this area,” Vaishnaw noted.
