Indian Railways announces 20% rebate on confirmed return journey tickets

The Ministry of Railways has announced an experimental "Round Trip Package for Festival Rush" scheme aimed at easing passenger congestion and ensuring smoother travel during the upcoming festive season.

According to a Railway Board circular issued on August 8, 2025, the scheme offers a 20 per cent rebate on the base fare of the return journey for passengers booking confirmed tickets for both onward and return travel for the same set of passengers, class, and origin-destination pair.

The initiative aims to redistribute crowding, facilitate hassle-free bookings, and enhance the utilisation of train services, including special trains, in both directions.

Under the scheme, bookings will open on August 14, 2025, for onward journeys scheduled between October 13 and October 26, 2025.

The corresponding return journey must be booked using the connecting journey feature for travel between November 17 and December 1, 2025. Advance reservation period norms will not apply to the return journey booking. 

The scheme will be valid across all classes and trains, except those operating with flexi-fare pricing, and will only apply to confirmed tickets.

To avail the discount, passengers must book the onward ticket first and then the return ticket using the connecting journey feature, for the same origin-destination pair and travel class.

The offer is valid for bookings made either online or at reservation counters, but no refunds, modifications, or other concessions will be allowed for tickets under this scheme.

This scheme will be applicable for those passengers who choose their return journey during the prescribed period.