The busy travel season has started for Indian Railways. Chaitra Navratri is currently going on. After this, the wedding season will begin, followed by summer vacations.
During this time, a large number of people travel by train. Keeping this in mind, the Railways has updated the rules for changing the boarding station on reserved tickets.
Now, passengers can change their boarding station up to 30 minutes before the train departs.
New Rule for Changing Boarding Station
According to a new decision by the Railway Board, passengers can now change their boarding station or choose where to board the train up to half an hour before the train leaves its starting station.
Earlier, this option was available only until the train chart was prepared. Previously, charts were prepared 4 hours before departure, but now they are prepared 8 hours in advance.
Because of this change, the time limit for changing the boarding station has also been updated. This new rule will come into effect from next month.
Example to Understand
Let’s say you have booked a ticket on the Shatabdi Express from New Delhi to Lucknow. You live in Ghaziabad and feel it is inconvenient to go all the way to New Delhi early in the morning.
In this case, you can simply change your boarding station to Ghaziabad up to 30 minutes before departure and board the train from there.
However, if you do not change your boarding station, you will only be allowed to board the train from New Delhi.
Rules for Changing Boarding Station
Passengers can change the boarding station on a confirmed ticket from the time of booking up to 30 minutes before departure.
No refund is given for changing the boarding station under normal conditions.
Once the boarding station is changed, you cannot board the train from the original station.
If a passenger is found traveling without proper authorization, they will have to pay the fare from the original boarding station to the new one, along with a penalty.
When You Cannot Change the Boarding Station
If the ticket has been seized or cancelled by authorities.
If the VIKALP option is selected in the PNR.
Online change is not allowed for tickets booked at railway counters.
If you already selected a boarding station during booking, you can change it only one more time through the “Booked Tickets” option.
What is a Boarding Station?
A boarding station is the station where you are officially allowed to board the train. For example, if your train runs from New Delhi to Howrah and stops at Ghaziabad, Aligarh,
and Kanpur, you can only board from your selected boarding station.
If your ticket shows New Delhi as your boarding station, you cannot board from Ghaziabad unless you officially change it in advance.
