The Indian Railways on Thursday increased the advance reservation period from the present 30 days to 120 days for all special trains. To recall, the national transporter has started running 15 pairs of special trains since May 12 on Rajdhani routes and the 100 new pairs of special trains are scheduled to run from June 1.

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"Ministry of Railways has decided to increase the advance reservation period (ARP) of all Specials notified from 30 days to 120 days. Booking of parcel and luggage shall be permitted in all these 230 trains,"  the railways said in a statement.

It said the other terms and conditions such as current booking, tatkal quota allocation of seats to roadside stations and others will be the same as in regular timetabled trains. "The above changes shall be implemented with effect from 08:00 hrs of train booking date of 31st May 2020 onwards," it said.

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Earlier this week, the Indian Railways had made it easier for passengers to book tickets for their journeys during the ongoing crisis. Apart from the IRCTC app and website, the passengers can now also book their train tickets through post offices. The new service has come into effect from May 22, for all special trains. 

Other than Post Offices, the ticket booking or cancellation facility has also resumed in Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra (YTSK) licensees as well as through authorized agents of IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation). Passengers can also book or cancel their tickets from Indian Railways’ computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS) counters in railway premises or reservation centers as well as Common Service Centers (CSC).

The Indian Railways has ferried over 44 lakh migrant workers on board 3,276 'Shramik Special' trains since May 1, according to official data. Of the total trains, 2,875 have terminated, while 401 are in transit.