Good news for passengers as Indian Railways offers 20% discount on ticket booking, read rules and conditions here

The Railways is offering a 20 percent discount on train tickets booked under the 'Round trip package for festival rush' scheme.

The Indian Railways, one of the largest train networks in the world, is also arguably the busiest, especially during the festive season. Now, in some great news for passengers, the Railways is offering a massive 20% discount on round trip bookings to prevent overcrowding, ensure hassle-free booking and passenger convenience during the season.

According to details, train tickets booked under the ‘Round trip package for festival rush’ are being offered at discounted prices on busy routes during the festival season, to beat the rush and ensure the use of trains from both sides, including special trains.

How to book round trips under the scheme?

The discounted fares can be availed by passengers who book round trips during the offer period. Concessional fares are being offered on tickets booked for onward travel between October 13-26 and return from November 17 to December 1 from the same train.

“Booking start date shall be 14.08.2025 for the ARP (Advance Reservation Period) date 13th October 2025,” as per a press release issued by the Ministry of Railways.

The discount will be on tickets booked from August 14, and the rebate will not be applicable on flexi fare trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duranto, etc.

When can you book the tickets?

Onward ticket shall be booked first for the train start date between 13th October 2025 and 26th October 2025 and subsequently return journey ticket shall be booked by using connecting journey feature for the train start date between 17th November and 1st December 2025, according to the release.

Advance reservation period (ARP), which is October 13 to October 26, will not be applicable for booking the return journey, it said.

“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,” the Railways Ministry said.

Can you apply for a refund?

The Railways clarified that the above mentioned booking will be permissible only for confirmed tickets in both directions. Total rebates of 20% shall be granted on base fare of return journey only.

Booking under this scheme shall be for the same class and same origin-destination pair for both the onward and return journey, it said, adding that the tickets booked under the scheme are non-refundable.