Indian Railways: To provide relief to passengers during festivals, Indian Railways has started a round trip ticket scheme. In this scheme, up to 20% discount will be available on base fare on return tickets. Know the step by step process to take advantage of this scheme.
Indian Railways: In view of the increasing crowd during festivals, Indian Railways has started a special round trip scheme for passengers. Its purpose is to make ticket booking easier on special festivals like Diwali and Chhath. Under this scheme, passengers will now be able to get a discount of 20% on base fare on return tickets. This will enable better use of trains in both directions.
What is the round trip scheme of Railways?
This scheme has come into effect from 14 August 2025. It has been started especially to reduce the crowd during festivals like Diwali and Chhath Puja. Passengers can book onward and return tickets together within the stipulated dates. Discount will be available only on the base fare of the return ticket.
This means that if you have to go from Delhi to Lucknow to celebrate the festival with family and then come back, then you will be able to take advantage of this scheme. For this, while booking a ticket from Delhi to Lucknow, you will also have to book a ticket to return from Lucknow to Delhi. And the discount will be available on the fare of this return ticket.
How to take advantage of the new railway scheme
To take advantage of the round trip scheme of the railway, it is mandatory to first book an onward ticket. Only after that the return ticket can be booked on the fixed dates through the connecting journey feature. The benefit of this scheme will be available only on booking tickets till certain dates.
Departure date: From 13 October 2025 to 26 October 2025
Return date: From 17 November 2025 to 1 December 2025
How to book an onward ticket?
- Go to IRCTC and select “Trains” from the menu.
- Click on “Festival Round Trip Scheme” or select the dates of 13–26 October 2025 from the general booking flow.
- Read the terms and conditions and proceed.
- Select the source-destination station, date of travel and class.
- Complete the booking and note down the PNR number.
- The confirmation page or Booked Ticket History will show the option “Book Return Ticket (20% Discount)”.
How to book a return ticket?
- Click on “Book Return Ticket (20% Discount)”.
- The source and destination should be the same as in the onward ticket. The class and passenger list should also be the same.
- Select the travel date between 17 November to 1 December 2025.
- Select the preferred train and complete the booking.
- After making the payment, the PNR numbers of both the journeys (onward and return) will be visible on the e-ticket.
Keep these things in mind
The 20% discount will be applicable only on the base fare of the return ticket. Suppose the total fare of a train ticket is ₹1,000. In this, the base fare is ₹ 700, reservation charge ₹ 40, superfast charge ₹ 75 and GST/other taxes ₹ 185. So the discount will be available only on the base fare i.e. ₹ 700. You will have to pay the remaining ₹ 300 (reservation, superfast, tax) as is.
Advance reservation period will not be applicable on the return ticket. Both tickets should be from the same station pairing. Also, the scheme is applicable only on selected trains and special trains. So you should check while booking the ticket whether you are getting this benefit or not.
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