Whether your train ticket is confirmed or not... now you will not get information 4 hours in advance; rules are going to change across the country.

Railways have taken a new step for the convenience of passengers. Now passengers on the waiting list will be informed about the confirmation of their tickets 24 hours before the departure of the train. Till now this information was given only 4 hours before.

The Railway Ministry said that this has been started as an experiment so that passengers can plan their journey better. This new experiment will provide relief to those passengers who are uncertain about their journey due to waiting tickets. Ministry officials have assured that this scheme will become permanent only when there is a good response from the passengers.

The pilot project started from Bikaner Division.

Dilip Kumar, Executive Director (Information and Publicity), Railway Board, said, "We have started this pilot project in Bikaner Division, where charts are being prepared 24 hours before the departure of the train. Till now this work used to be done 4 hours before."

He further said, "This has been started keeping in mind the problems of passengers, who are uncertain about their journey due to waiting tickets. Now if they get to know 24 hours in advance that their ticket has been confirmed, they can plan their journey better."

No change in the ticket cancellation policy

However, if the passenger cancels the ticket after it is confirmed, he will have to lose a large part of the ticket amount as a penalty.

According to the cancellation policy of the Railways, if the ticket is cancelled 48 hours to 12 hours before the departure of the train, then the passenger will get only 25 percent of the ticket amount back. On the other hand, if the cancellation is done 12 hours to 4 hours before, then only 50 percent of the amount will be refunded. Officials said, "The seats or berths that are cancelled will be filled through the existing booking system."

Passenger convenience is the priority.

This new initiative aims to give a better experience to the passengers. Railways says that if this experiment is successful, it can be implemented across the country. Passengers have been appealed to use this new system and share their opinions so that Railways can improve it further.