Railways announces 20% discount on return journey tickets for festival season

To manage surge in passengers during festivals in the later part of the year, the Railway Ministry on Saturday (August 9, 2025) announced a scheme offering a 20% discount on tickets booked for travel between October 13-26 and return from November 17 to December 1 from the same train.

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.

"Booking start date shall be 14.08.2025 for the ARP (Advance Reservation Period) date October 13, 2025," a press statement from the Railway Ministry said.

"Onward ticket shall be booked first for the train start date between October 13, 2025 and October 26, 2025 and subsequently return journey ticket shall be booked by using connecting journey feature for the train start date between November 17 and December 1, 2025," it added.

It clarified that the advance reservation period (ARP), which is October 13 to October 26, will not be applicable for booking the return journey.

"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," it said.

"The above booking shall be permissible only for confirmed tickets in both directions. Total rebates of 20% shall be granted on base fare of return journey only," the Ministry added.

It stated that booking under this scheme shall be for the same class and same origin-destination pair for both the onward and return journey.

"No refund of fare shall be permissible for the tickets booked under this scheme," the press note clarified.