Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw gave this information to NDTV on October 7. He stated that from January 2026, passengers will be able to change confirmed tickets to a future date.
However, in this process, changing the date will not guarantee a confirmed ticket. It will only be available based on seat availability.
If you have a confirmed ticket to travel from Delhi to Patna on November 20 and due to some reason your plan changes and extends by 5 days, then you will not need to buy a new ticket for November 25.
You will be able to change the travel date of your November 20 confirmed rail ticket online and travel to Patna on November 25 with the same ticket. The special thing is that your money will not be deducted for this process.
In the current railway ticket booking system, to change the date of travel, you first have to cancel your ticket and then book a new ticket for the next date.
A ticket cancellation fee is also charged for this. Along with this, there is no guarantee whether a confirmed ticket will be available for the next date. In such a situation, passengers face inconvenience.
· Currently, if a ticket is canceled 48 to 12 hours before the train's departure time, 25% is deducted.
· Canceling an AC First Class/Executive Class ticket costs ₹240 + GST.
· Canceling an AC 2 Tier/First Class ticket costs ₹200 + GST.
· Canceling an AC 3 Tier/AC Chair Car/AC 3 Economy ticket costs ₹180 + GST.
· Canceling a Sleeper Class ticket costs ₹120, and canceling a Second Class ticket costs ₹60.
· No refund is available after the chart is prepared.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw stated that this system is in the interest of passengers and this feature will be available on the IRCTC website or app from January 2026.
· Upon ticket confirmation, a rebooking option will be available.
· You will be able to select a new travel date for the same train.
· Check seat availability for the new date and book. Booking will be confirmed if seats are available.
· A new ticket will be generated without any cancellation fees.
Currently, all this will be done online using the IRCTC website or app. No information has been given about an offline option yet. Railways may start this process offline later.
The new railway system will currently apply only to confirmed tickets. No new rule has been introduced yet for changing the date of waiting tickets.
There will be no guarantee of getting a confirmed ticket in exchange for a confirmed ticket; tickets will be issued based on seat availability. Also, if there is a difference in fare, the passenger will have to pay it.
This change will benefit millions of passengers who want to change their confirmed railway ticket journey, but for this, the railway charges a hefty amount.
