Indian Railways offers 20% discount on return journeys

Indian Railways has introduced a new “Round Trip Package” scheme, which gives the passenger a 20% rebate on their return trip when booking both the onward and return train tickets at one time. It has been introduced experimentally to control rush during the festival season and add convenience to passengers.
The scheme is meant to encourage joint booking of the two parts of a journey. Travelers who pre-book their return journey within a given period of time will get a 20% discount on the base fare of the return ticket.
The “Round Trip Package” is effective from August 14, 2025. The passengers are required to book the return journey ticket first in advance for travel periods between November 17, 2025, and December 1, 2025, via the ‘Connecting Journey Feature’ on the booking website of the railway. Then, they have to book the onward journey ticket for the travel periods between October 13, 2025, and October 26, 2025.
Importantly, the discount is only valid if both the onward and return tickets are booked on the same passenger names and both tickets are confirmed. The ARP rules will not be applicable for the return ticket booking under this scheme. The concession of 20% will be only on the base fare of the return journey.
Indian Railways announced that the scheme is being brought into effect on an experimental basis to evaluate its effect and get feedback from passengers. The main idea is to maximize the use of trains in both directions during the peak festive season travel period to ensure better passenger flow management and better delivery of services.