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The Indian Railways is set to begin with its new charting system in a week. Under this system, the tickets will be confirmed at least eight hours before the departure, said the officials.
The Railway Board on Wednesday directed all the zonal railways to implement the new system and start the preparation of reservation charts accordingly.
Currently, the reservation chart is prepared four hours prior to the time of train departure. Under the new system, the reservation charts will be prepared a minimum of eight hours and a maximum of 17 hours before the departure of the train.
“For trains with departure between 5 am and 2 pm, the first reservation chart will be prepared preferably by 9 pm of the previous day. For trains with departure between 2 pm and 11:59pm and 00:00am and 5am, the first reservation chart will be prepared preferably eight hours in advance,” said the board in its letter to all zonal railways.
There shall be no change in provision regarding preparation of second reservation chart, it added. The second reservation chart is prepared 30 minutes before the departure time of the train. After the preparation of the first chart, the available seats are provided on a first-come-first-serve basis through online and offline mode till the preparation of the second reservation chart.
The Railway Board said these instructions will also cover charting in remote locations.
According to the railways, the new charting system has been introduced to remove uncertainty for those passengers who had to return from the station after non-confirmation of a waitlisted ticket. Now, the passengers will receive an update on the waitlist status well in advance and will get time to make alternative arrangements in case the wait listed ticket is not confirmed.
