The railways will prepare seat reservation charts at 9 pm for trains starting journeys between 5 am and 2 pm the next day, while for the rest, the list will be prepared eight hours in advance.
Since 2015, the first reservation charts have been prepared at least four hours before the scheduled departure of the train after the Railway Ministry, for the first time, framed norms in this matter. According to the ministry, the latest change has been made for passenger convenience.
"For the trains with departure between 0500 hours and 1400 hours, the first reservation chart will be prepared preferably by 21:00 of the previous day," the Railway Board directed all zones in a July 2 circular.
For the trains with departure between 14:00 and 23:59 and 00:00 and 5:00, the first reservation chart will be prepared preferably eight hours in advance." The circular instructed the zones to issue necessary instructions to all concerned accordingly, but did not mention any definite date of its implementation, nor did it mention any change in the preparation of the second reservation chart.
"Once the chart is ready eight hours before the train's departure, if seats/berths still remain vacant, passengers can book these under current booking facilities. The second chart is prepared 30 minutes to five minutes before the train's departure, and this is mainly for passengers opting for tickets under the current booking," a railway official said.
"Prior to 2015, there was no fixed time schedule for chart preparation, and zones were following varying norms. The Railway Board decided to standardise it to facilitate passengers to plan their journey well in time," an official said.
Asked the reason for increasing the time gap between chart preparation and the train's departure, officials said that although there was no feedback from the passengers to enhance the time gap, it was felt by the ministry to provide more time to passengers to plan their journey.
The Railway Board had also run a pilot project in the Bikaner Rail Division for preparing a reservation chart 24 hours in advance, and based on that experience, an eight-hour gap was finalised.
"If you know eight hours before whether your ticket is confirmed or not, it will remove uncertainty and help you plan your travel properly,” officials said, adding that once a ticket is confirmed, passengers will lose a substantial chunk of the ticket amount as a penalty in case of cancellation.
According to the cancellation policy, if a confirmed ticket is cancelled between 48 and 12 hours before departure, passengers will get back 25 per cent of the ticket amount.
"Seats or berths falling vacant due to cancellation will be filled up through the current booking system," an official said.