JOIN USTrain tickets can now be booked 120 days ahead of a journey instead of the present 90 days, starting March 10.
The Railways, however, said the increased reservation period was only an experiment to study whether it would reduce waiting list for trains.
The Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) has been assigned the task of making necessary changes in the software.
“Apart from shrinking the waiting list, advance booking of tickets would spare commuters from approaching touts,” said an official.
There is no change in the reservation schedule for some day trains such as Taj Express, Gomati Express and others, which continue to have lower advance reservation periods. The 360 days advance booking facility for foreign tourists also remains unchanged.
To curb black marketing of tickets, the Railway ministry has instructed the various railway zones to notify the names of stations offering current reservation of seats which fall vacant due to last minute cancellation of tickets after the preparation of reservation chart. The stations have been told to display trainwise details of seat availability at current reservation counters.