Passengers Decry After Railways Cuts Advance Ticket Booking Facility to 60 Days

Hyderabad:Thursday’s decision of the railway ministry to reduce the advance ticket booking period to 60 days from the current 120 days has irked several passengers, who lamented that this would particularly impact the middle class travellers the most.

The railway authorities had in 2015 extended the period of the advance reservation facility to four months from two months.

The latest decision will come into effect on November 1. The 120-day window period was earlier in vogue from April 1981 to January 1985.

According to railway sources this decision was taken because of the heavy cancellation rate and touts misusing the window period.

A commercial official at SCR said, “We are not aware of why this decision was taken. This will impact passengers, especially those who wish to book tickets in advance for their festival and summer vacations.”

Rajeev Pandey from Balapur, said, “This will impact the middle and lower middle class the most. To ensure last minute travel hiccups during holidays we book in advance. This will make it tough to get reservations.”

Waheeda Rehman from Neredmet said, “Even during the 120-day reservation window, there were trains showing No 300 in the waiting list. The new decision will worsen the situation.”