Overview

Rescheduling a well and pre-planned journey is something none of us like, and that too in Indian Railways. However, if circumstances are making you prepone or postpone your journey, Indian Railways has an option that will help you in doing so. Do you also have plans to make changes in your journey after booking train tickets in advance with a confirmed status? Then, you might be wondering, can I prepone or postpone my journey? Don’t worry, here we are with all the related details. All the rules and regulations related to such journeys are specified on the Indian Railways Inquiry website.

Indian Railways is the third-largest railway network in the world and is responsible for the rail mode of transport in India. Train travellers can book their train tickets through Trainman in advance for 120 days.

How can I postpone my journey?

There are some rules for postponing for different status of your reserved ticket. For instance, 

1. Confirmed Ticket

• Postponement of journey on confirmed tickets shall be allowed in the same or any higher class by any subsequent train on the same or any subsequent day, for the same destination:

1. If a Confirmed, RAC, or Waitlist Ticket is available on the train then you will need to make a new reservation. Thus, you will be required to pay the reservation fee for the class for which reservations are made. Provided that you submit the confirmed tickets to Indian Railways during working hours and at least 48 hours before the scheduled departure of the actually booked train.
2. If you submit the tickets during working hours and within 24 hours and 4 hours before the scheduled departure of the originally booked train, then the 25% fare of the already booked ticket will be paid as cancellation charges.
3. If you submit the tickets during working hours and within 4 hours before departure of the originally booked train then 50% fare of the already booked ticket will be paid as cancellation charges.

1. RAC or Waitlisted Ticket

• Postponement of journey on RAC and waitlisted tickets shall be allowed in the same or higher class, by any subsequent train on the same or any subsequent day, for the same destination:

1. You will need to make a new reservation for confirmed or RAC or waiting list accommodation on the available train.
2. If you submit the tickets during working hours of reservation counters and up to the maximum time limits (i.e 3/6/12 hours depending on distance) after the actual departure of the originally booked train, for which the clerk charge is paid.

How can I prepone my journey?

• Preponement of journey on confirmed, RAC & waitlisted tickets shall be allowed in the same or any higher class, by any earlier train on the same day or any earlier day, for the same destination, provided that: 

1. Confirmed or RAC or waiting list tickets are available on the train in which fresh reservation is required;
2. You will need to submit the ticket during working hours of the reservation office and at least 6 hrs before the scheduled departure of the train in which reservation is required or before preparation of the reservation chart, whichever is later;
3. You will need to pay the new reservation fee for the class for which the reservation is required, in case of preponement on confirmed, RAC & waitlisted tickets for which the clerk charge is paid.

Condition for Modification of Journey

• If in case there is a difference between the originally booked journey fare and the revised journey fare, then the difference in fare will be refunded or recovered.
• Postponement or Preponement of the journey will be allowed only once.
• You can not prepone or postpone normal train ticket journeys against Tatkal Quota even on payment of Tatkal charges.

Refund on Cancellation of Modified Ticket

If the ticket, on which journey has been modified and is cancelled, the cancellation charges shall be payable as follows:-

1. Cancellation charges will be applicable like the tickets were cancelled at the time of postponement /preponement of the journey.
2. The modified tickets will be treated as a fresh reservation and the cancellation charges will be applicable accordingly. 
3.  If the cancellation charges of 25% or 50% were realized at the time of modification of the journey, the cancellation charges mentioned in (b) only shall be levied.

Book your train tickets with Trainman’s, available on Google Play Store and iOS App Store. Moreover, it has features like checking the PNR Status of the booked ticket, Seat Availability, Running Status and many more. Also, stay tuned to the Trainman Blog to know all the latest updates on Indian Railways.