In a major relief to commuters amid the festive season of Navratri and Diwali, Indian Railways has permitted booking and cancellation of tickets till 5 minutes before departure of your train. The new rule will come into effect from today (October 10) onwards as the Indian Railways has decided to re-establish the pre-COVID system of making the second reservation chart half an hour before the departure time.

The new rule will be valid for all special trains being run by Indian Railways, along with Tejas Express, which will begin from October 17. However, the normal train services still remain postponed amid COVID-19 crisis. Also the tickets can be booked during this time. It can also be cancelled during this time, as per the provisions of the refund rules.

The second reservation charts will be made 30 minutes before the schedule departure of trains from stations. This was normal before the outbreak but when the Railways started special passenger trains amid the pandemic, the second reservation chart was being made two hours before the schedule departure.

The first chart is prepared at least four hours before the scheduled departure. If seats become vacant due to cancellation, they can be booked through PRS counters and online till the preparation of the second chart.

The Railways had suspended all passenger trains services amid the countrywide lockdown from March 25. However, it restarted services in a staggered manner starting with Shramik Special trains to help stranded migrant workers reach their homes from May 1.