Advance reservation period for all 30 Special Rajdhani type trains extended from 30 to 120 days

Indian Railways has decided to increase the advance reservation period (ARP) from the existing 30 days to 120 days for all 30 Special Rajdhani type trains that have been operating since May 12, 2020.

It will also be applicable on all 200 Special Mail Express which will start operations from June 1, 2020. Essentially, passengers will be able to reserve train tickets up to four months in advance.

The ministry in its statement on Thursday said, "Ministry of Railways has decided to increase the advance reservation period of all Specials notified from 30 days to 120 days."

These changes will be implemented with effect from 8 AM of train booking date of May 31, 2020, onwards. It said booking of parcel and luggage will also be permitted in all these 230 trains.

The Ministry said, the other terms and conditions, such as current booking and tatkal quota allocation of seats to roadside stations, will be the same as in regular timetabled trains.

The step was taken at a time when the government is planning to bring normalcy in passenger train operations despite there is a rise in COVID-19 cases in India and has crossed the mark of 1.50 lakh cases. Last week railway minister Piyush Goyal said that the time has come to take the country towards a sense of normalcy as the national transported prepares to run more passengers trains going forward.