Railways offers 20% discount on return fares on train tickets ahead of festive season

The Indian Railways has announced a new initiative to ease travel during the upcoming festive season by introducing a discounted fare scheme under its ‘Round Trip Package’. The scheme is designed for passengers heading to their hometowns ahead of Diwali, Chhath, and other festivals, where in passengers will get a rebate on return fares.

According to the Ministry of Railways, “In order to avoid rush, ensure hassle free booking as well as facilitate passengers and redistribute the peak traffic for larger range during peak festival seasons and ensure both side utilization of trains including special trains it has been decided to formulate an experimental scheme named as round trip package for festivals rush on discounted fare.

“Under this scheme, passengers who book both their onward and return journeys together will be eligible for a rebate. The passenger details for the return trip must match those on the onward journey, and bookings must be made for the same origin and destination pair and in the same class of travel.

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Bookings under the Round Trip Package will commence on 14 August for journeys starting from 13 October 2025. According to the scheme details, the onward journey should fall between 13 October and 26 October, while the return leg must be booked using the connecting journey feature for travel dates between 17 November and 1 December 2025. The usual advance reservation period will not apply to return bookings, though only confirmed tickets will be allowed in both directions.

A rebate of 20 percent will be granted on the base fare of the return journey only. However, the scheme does not allow for fare refunds once tickets are booked. Indian Railways has also clarified that no other discounts, coupons, vouchers, passes, or privilege ticket orders (PTOs) will be valid for use on return journey bookings under this scheme.

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The offer is open to all classes and all types of trains, including special trains running on demand. However, it excludes services operating under the Flexi fare system. Passengers must book both legs of their journey through the same mode, either entirely online or at ticket counters, as no modifications will be allowed to tickets under this scheme.