Indian Railways has a facility that very few people know about. But if you are planning to travel around several cities with your family or friends, it could potentially save you thousands of rupees. Suppose you start your journey from Delhi. First, you travel to Mathura, then Mumbai, from there to Goa, followed by Bengaluru, Mysuru, Kanyakumari, and finally return to Delhi. Normally, you would have to book a separate ticket for every city. You would have to pay the fare every time and book a seat separately. If tickets become unavailable, your entire travel plan could be disrupted. However, Indian Railways has a solution for such journeys that most passengers are not aware of. It is called the Circular Journey Ticket.
1. What Is an Indian Railways Circular Journey Ticket?
A Circular Journey Ticket is designed for travelling to multiple cities under one journey. In other words, the hassle of booking tickets repeatedly can be reduced, and in many cases, the overall fare can also be lower. Let us understand what a Circular Journey Ticket is, how it can save money, who can get one, what its rules are, and how to obtain it.
First, let us understand it in simple terms. Suppose your journey starts from Delhi. You then travel to Agra, followed by Jaipur and Udaipur. After that, you travel to Ahmedabad, then Mumbai, and finally return to Delhi. In this case, your journey begins and ends at the same station. For such journeys, Indian Railways can issue a Circular Journey Ticket. This means you can visit several cities during the journey, but eventually you have to return to the station from where you started. This is one of the most important conditions of the ticket.https://www.indianrail.gov.in/enquiry/StaticPages/StaticEnquiry.jsp?StaticPage=circular_Journey.html
2. How Can a Circular Journey Ticket Save Money?
Why did the Railways introduce this facility in the first place? Indian Railways carries millions of passengers every year. Among them are many people who do not simply travel from one city to another but visit several cities as part of a longer tour. Some people travel for religious purposes, some want to explore South India, while others may plan a tour of Rajasthan. Such passengers normally have to purchase separate tickets for every part of their journey. The Circular Journey Ticket was introduced to make this type of travel easier.
But if separate tickets are already available, why would you need a Circular Journey Ticket? The answer lies in the railways fare structure. In general, as the distance increases, the fare per kilometre tends to decrease. To understand this simply, suppose you purchase three separate tickets for three journeys of 300 kilometres each. The fare is calculated separately for each ticket. But when these journeys are combined into one longer journey, the total fare can be lower because the overall distance is considered under the applicable fare structure. This is why a Circular Journey Ticket can be more economical in many cases.There can also be savings in terms of additional charges. If you travel on different trains using separate tickets, charges such as reservation fees, superfast charges and other applicable fees may be added separately to each ticket. With a Circular Journey Ticket of Railways, the basic journey fare is covered through the circular ticket, while reservations for individual trains are handled separately. This can make the arrangement particularly useful for long distance, multi city journeys.
The ticket can be especially useful for pilgrims, people who enjoy travelling, families and groups travelling together, and passengers planning long distance tours.
3. Important Rules, Validity and Types of Circular Journey Tickets
This ticket is not available for every type of journey. It comes with certain rules. The most important condition is that the journey must begin and end at the same station. If you start your journey from New Delhi, for example, you can visit five or eight cities in between, but ultimately you must return to New Delhi.
The railway system allows stopovers at a number of stations during the journey. According to the information described for this facility, you can have up to eight stopovers during the journey. This means you can stay in different cities according to your travel plans, explore places, meet relatives or visit religious sites before continuing to the next destination.
The ticket can have a validity of up to 56 days, or approximately two months. However, the Railways does not simply issue every Circular Journey Ticket with an automatic 56 day validity. The actual validity is determined according to the applicable rules, taking the total distance and stopovers into consideration. Under the described calculation, every 400 kilometres or part thereof is counted as one Railways journey day, while stopovers are calculated at the rate of one day for every 200 kilometres. The overall validity of the ticket is then determined accordingly.Circular Journey Tickets are available across major travel classes, including Sleeper Class, Third AC, Second AC, First AC and First Class, subject to the applicable railway rules. Senior citizens may also be eligible for applicable fare concessions. If the total journey is 1,000 kilometres or more, senior citizens may receive the concession available under the prevailing railway rules.
Since every passenger may have a different travel plan, Circular Journey Tickets can broadly be divided into two types. The first is the Standard Circular Railways Journey Ticket, where Indian Railways has already established certain popular tourist and religious routes. If your journey follows one of these routes, the process is relatively straightforward.https://unbiasedpollkhol.com/
4. How to Get a Circular Journey Ticket
How do you actually obtain one? If you are thinking that you can simply open the IRCTC app, select your route and book a Circular Railways Journey Ticket, that is not how the process generally works. The procedure is somewhat different from booking an ordinary railway ticket.
The first step is to decide your entire route in advance. You need to determine which cities you want to visit, where the journey will begin, where you want to stop and, most importantly, which station you will return to at the end of the journey.
Once your complete route is ready, you need to approach the appropriate railway authorities at a major railway station. You can contact the Divisional Commercial Manager or the concerned Station Manager and present your proposed travel route. The railway officials will calculate the total distance, determine the applicable fare and approve the route. Once the route is approved, you will receive an approved form. You then take this form to the Passenger Reservation Counter, pay the applicable fare and obtain your Circular Journey Ticket.
One important point to remember is that getting a Circular Journey Ticket does not automatically guarantee you a seat on every train. The Circular Journey Ticket mainly covers the journey according to the approved route. You still need to make a separate reservation for each train you intend to travel on. For each individual train, you will generally need to pay the applicable reservation charges, but you do not have to pay the entire journey fare again.
In simple terms, the major advantages are that you do not have to repeatedly purchase separate journey tickets, the overall fare can be lower in many long distance cases, your entire journey can be planned in advance, you can choose your own route or use an established railway tourist route, and the ticket can provide an extended validity period that allows you to travel through several cities over a longer period.