To prevent congestion and ensure a smooth ticket booking experience during the upcoming peak festive seasons, the Ministry of Railways announced on Saturday that it will introduce a ‘Round Trip Package’ featuring discounted fares and rebate benefits.

This initiative aims to assist passengers and distribute peak traffic more evenly throughout the festive season, ensuring optimal utilization of trains, including special services.

“An experimental scheme called the Round Trip Package for festival rush at discounted fares has been decided upon,” stated the Railways Ministry.

As per the ministry, this scheme will apply to passengers who plan their return journey within the specified timeframe.

Rebates will be available when tickets for both the onward and return journeys are booked for the same group of passengers under this scheme.

The details of the return journey must match those of the onward journey. Passengers can begin booking their tickets from August 14 for the advance reservation period (ARP) starting on October 13.

“An onward ticket must be booked first for travel dates between October 13, 2025, and October 26, 2025, followed by the return journey ticket, which can be booked using the connecting journey feature for travel dates between November 17 and December 1, 2025,” the Ministry explained.

However, the advance reservation period will not apply to return journey bookings.

Additional conditions to benefit from the railway’s new special scheme include that bookings must be for confirmed tickets in both directions, a total rebate of 20 percent will be granted on the base fare of the return journey only, and bookings under this scheme must be for the same class and the same origin-destination pair for both journeys.

According to the Railways, no fare refunds will be allowed for tickets booked under this scheme.

This scheme will be applicable to all classes and on all trains, including special trains (Trains on demand), with the exception of trains that have a Flexi fare.

Furthermore, no changes will be permitted on these tickets for either journey, and discounts, Rail travel coupons, Voucher-based bookings, or Passes will not be accepted during the booking of return journeys at concessional fares.

Passengers can purchase their tickets through both online and offline methods; however, tickets for both the onward and return journeys must be booked using the same method (either online or offline).