Indian Railways Circular Journey Tickets: Advantages, Booking Rules And All Details

Indian Railways' circular journey tickets offer unique travel flexibility, as they are issued for all journey (other than regular routes) which begin and end at the same station, said Indian Railways on its portal- indianrailways.gov.in. Circular journey tickets can be purchased for second and sleeper classes. A maximum of eight breaks of journey are admissible on these tickets. Circular journey tickets give the benefit of telescopic rates, which are considerably lower than regular point-to-point fare. These rates are calculated on mail/express fares. 

Advantages of booking circular journey tickets:

With circular journey tickets, passenger can save time and also avoid the inconvenience of booking tickets for each leg of the journey, said Indian Railways. A circular journey ticket is charged for as two single journey, wherein the length of each single journey is taken as half of the total distance, according to Indian Railways.

Steps to book Indian Railways' circular journey tickets:

1. Once the itinerary is finalised, passengers can approach the Divisional Commercial Managers of the division or station managers of certain major stations to which the journey commencing station belongs.

2. The Divisional Commercial Manager or the station authorities will then calculate the cost of the tickets based on the itinerary. He will also inform the Station Manager concerned of the same, in the prescribed format. 

3. Passengers can purchase circular journey tickets by presenting this form at the booking office of the station from the proposed destination to start the journey. 

4. After purchasing the circular journey ticket, passengers must approach the reservation office to reserve the accommodation for various laps of the journey.  Reserved tickets are then issued for the journey.