NEW DELHI, Aug 9: To manage surge in passengers during the coming festivals in the next few months, festivals in the later part of the year, the Railway Ministry on Saturday announced a scheme offering a 20% discount on the base fare of the return journey for passengers booking a round trip starting October 13-26 and return from November 17 to December 1 by the same train except those running on flexi fare, according to a Ministry notification.
The scheme launched on an experimental basis bookings for which will start from August 14, will apply to onward travel between October 13 and 26, with the return journey falling between November 17 and December 1. Diwali falls on October 21 and Chhath Pooja on October 28, followed by the peak wedding season.
The scheme aims to spread out passenger traffic during the festive season by incentivising early and structured booking of both onward and return journeys. It encourages balanced utilisation of trains from both directions during periods when one-way demand is much higher.
Tickets must be booked sequentially—the onward ticket first, followed by the return ticket using the connecting journey feature. The offer is valid for the same set of passengers, same class, with confirmed tickets only in both directions. It is also only for the same origin–destination pair, meaning if the onward ticket is from Patna to New Delhi, the return ticket must be from New Delhi back to Patna. To avail the offer, both onward and return journey tickets must be booked using the same mode—either internet (online) booking, or counter booking at reservation offices.
Passengers will not be entitled for any refund of fare for the tickets booked under this scheme. The scheme will be for all classes and in all trains, including special trains, except trains with Flexi fare trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duranto, etc. The ministry also clarified that no modification will be allowed on these tickets in either of the journeys.
The discount will be on tickets booked from August 14, and the rebate will not be applicable on flexi fare. “Booking start date shall be 14.08.2025 for the ARP (Advance Reservation Period) date October 13, 2025,” a press statement from the Railway Ministry said.
“Onward ticket shall be booked first for the train start date between October 13, 2025 and October 26, 2025 and subsequently return journey ticket shall be booked by using connecting journey feature for the train start date between November 17 and December 1, 2025,” it added.
It clarified that the advance reservation period (ARP), which is October 13 to October 26, will not be applicable for booking the return journey. “Under this scheme, rebates shall be applicable when booked for both onward and return journey for the same set of passengers. Passenger details of return journey will be same as of onward journey,” it said.
“The above booking shall be permissible only for confirmed tickets in both directions. Total rebates of 20% shall be granted on base fare of return journey only,” the Ministry added. It stated that booking under this scheme shall be for the same class and same origin-destination pair for both the onward and return journey. “No refund of fare shall be permissible for the tickets booked under this scheme,” the press note clarified.
The scheme aims to spread out passenger traffic during the festive season by incentivising early and structured booking of both onward and return journeys. It encourages balanced utilisation of trains from both directions during periods when one-way demand is much higher.
“In order to avoid rush, ensure hassle free booking as well as facilitate passengers and redistribute the peak traffic for larger range during peak festival seasons and ensure both side utilisation of trains including special trains it has been decided to formulate an experimental scheme named as round-trip package for festivals rush on discounted fare,” the notification reads.
During October–November 2024, the Railways ran 7,724 special trains to manage festive demand, carrying more than 20 crore passengers. Between October 1 and November 5 alone, 4,521 special trains transported 65 lakh passengers. Both Diwali and Chhath that year fell in the first half of November.
(Manas Dasgupta)
