Rlys announces festival return fare discount

Indian Railways has introduced an experimental “Round Trip Package for Festival Rush”, offering passengers a 20% discount on return fares. The initiative aims to streamline bookings and prevent overcrowding at stations during the upcoming festive season.

Cleared by the Finance Directorate, the scheme seeks to redistribute peak travel demand over a wider period and ensure better two-way utilisation of trains, including special services. It will be open to passengers booking both onward and return journeys for the same set of travellers.

Bookings under the scheme open on August 14 for onward journeys scheduled between October 13 and October 26, 2025. The return trip must fall between November 17 and December 1, 2025, and be booked through the “connecting journey” feature. Both legs must be confirmed tickets, in the same class and for the same origin-destination pair.

According to the Ministry of Railways, the 20% rebate applies only to the base fare of the return journey. No changes, cancellations, or additional discounts will be allowed once tickets are booked.