Railways extends alternate train accommodation facility

In a bid to make train ticketing more convenient for passengers, Indian Railways will offer passengers an alternate train accommodation facility on five major routes connecting Howrah, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore and Secunderabad from New Delhi.

Passengers booked under Vikalp scheme will be provided with an option for getting alternate accommodation in another train, in case tickets don't get confirmed in the first train of choice.

Though the scheme was announced in the rail budget, but so far it had only been implemented in Delhi-Jammu and Delhi-Lucknow sectors. Also, the scheme is valid only for Mail/Express and Superfast trains and not applicable in Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto trains.

Under the scheme, if a passenger has been allotted alternate accommodation, no change in the journey will be allowed. The scheme does not charge extra amount from passengers once they are allotted alternate accommodation and no refund is provided for difference of fare.

(with inputs from agencies)