Railways restores second reservation chart system, to be issued 30 minutes before departure

Indian Railways today decided to restore the earlier system of preparation of second reservation charts from 10 October. The system was paused in the wake of novel coronavirus pandemic for the last few months.

As per established pre-COVID period instructions, the first reservation chart was prepared at least 4 hours before scheduled departure of train. Thereafter, the available accommodation could be booked across PRS counters as well as through internet on first-come-first-serve basis till preparation of second reservation charts.

Second reservation charts were prepared between 30 minutes to 5 minutes before scheduled/rescheduled time of departure of trains. Cancellation of already booked tickets was also permitted during this period as per provisions of Refund Rules.

However, due to pandemic, instructions were issued to shift the time of preparation of second reservation chart to 2 hours before scheduled or rescheduled time of departure of trains.

As per 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 train.

Accordingly, ticket booking facility, both online and on PRS ticket counters, shall be available, before preparation of second chart.

Passengers can book the tickets from IRCTC website and app and also from the PRS counters for the trains.

The Railways had suspended all passenger trains services due to the imposition of a nationwide lockdown from 25th March. However, it resumed services in a staggered manner, with Shramik Special trains to help stranded migrant workers reach their home states from 1st May.

Later, it started 230 special trains across the country, followed by another 80 special trains from September 12.The additional trains were announced keeping in mind the COVID-19 situation, and also to allow reverse migration of workers to urban areas for work, with the country entering into Unlock 4.0

The national transporter also recently started operating clone trains under its network. Initially a total of 40 (20 pairs) of trains will operate in the Indian Railways network which has seen a huge passenger traffic demand.

The main feature of the clone trains will be that these trains will have fewer stoppages and will also run at a higher speed than the original train.

Clone trains comes as a boon for the railway passengers and the problem of not getting tickets in the busy routes may be reduced with the introduction of clone trains.