Ticket For Children Below 5 Years? Indian Railways Issues Clarification (Check Full Details)

Recently, there was news that rules for railway ticket booking for children have been changed by the Indian Railways.

However, a clarification has been issued by the Ministry of Railways now, which denies these rules. 

No Changes To Rules Of Railway Ticket Booking For Children

According to recent media reports, Indian Railways has changed the rule regarding the booking of tickets for children travelling by train. According to these reports, children between the ages of one and four will now be required to purchase a train ticket for a train journey.

However, these news stories and media reports have been denied by the Ministry of Railways. It has been confirmed that Indian Railways has made no changes to the booking of tickets for children travelling by train. 

It states, “These news items and media reports are misleading. It is informed that Indian Railways has not introduced any changes with regards to booking of tickets for children travelling in the train.”

The release also states that passengers have the option of purchasing a ticket and booking a berth for their under-5-year-old child if they so desire. And if they don’t want a separate berth, it’s free, just like it used to be previously.

According to the circular by the Ministry of Railways dated 06.03.2020, children under the age of five are free to travel. Separate berths or seats (in chair cars) are not permitted. As a result, no ticket is required as long as no separate berth is claimed. However, if a berth/seat is requested on a voluntary basis for children under the age of five, the full adult fare will be charged.

IRCTC Website Will Be Faster, With Powerful Performance

The festive season in the country is almost here and with this, it can be assured that there will be an upsurge in movements of people from one part of the country to other. This means it will become more difficult to get one’s hands over travel tickets.

The national transporter, Indian Railways will again be the most preferred medium of travel across the country.

Every year, ahead of the festive season, the Railways’ online ticket booking platform Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation or IRCTC becomes more difficult to operate, as it is filled with glitches and takes longer than normal days to confirm the bookings.

For this, Indian Railways has tied up with Grant Thornton, among the leading consulting firms in the country for making the IRCTC platform easy to traverse through.