Indian railway latest news: The national transporter has updated the ticket booking rules on the IRCTC website, under which passengers with children below the age of 5 years will have to pay full fare for booking tickets on the website. Indian Railways does not charge any fee for children below 5 years of age if tickets are not booked. However, by adding infant seats in trains, Indian Railways and IRCTC have changed the booking norms. A quick check on IRCTC website reveals that passengers have to pay full fare for children in the age group of 1-5 years. In order to get free travel for children under reservation, one has to choose a berth with infant seat (for applicable trains) or infant without berth.
As per circular no 12 issued by Indian Railways on 06.03.2020, children below 5 years of age do not require reservation for travel and can travel in train without ticket. However, if a berth is required, full adult fare has to be paid by booking the ticket.
Indian Railways recently added a baby berth in the AC third bogie of Lucknow Mail, which received a lot of appreciation from the netizens. Railways has now implemented the system of giving seats to children below five years of age while booking tickets at IRCTC and Railway Reservation Booths at stations. Till now tickets were allowed only for children in the age group of 5 to 11 years.
indian railway ticket booking rules for kids
As the rule applies, if you are taking full berth for a child between 5-11 years, then the full fare is paid to the Railways. If you do not take a full berth, you will have to pay only half the ticket price. However, when it comes to children below the age of 5 years, the passenger reservation system has not put any option of not taking a child’s berth after filling the names of children between the age of one to four years.
Age 0-4 years: Free for children if you opt for infant berth/no berth on train basis. Otherwise paying full charge on taking a berth
Age 5-11 years: Full charge if you opt for full berth, half the cost if you opt for a child seat without berth
Age after 12 years: Full fee for all
Passengers who wish to book tickets will have to book a berth in a train with infant seat to avail full discount on train ticket. While the Indian Railways and IRCTC have not made any formal announcement on the matter, the new ticketing rules have already been implemented on the IRCTC website.