A trial was launched in which the confirmed status of waiting list passengers was announced 24 hours before a train's departure, instead of the current practice of notifying passengers just 4 hours before, the Railway Ministry said on Wednesday.

Ministry officials assured that the pilot project would become part of the policy only after receiving a positive response from the passengers.

"We have started this pilot project in the Bikaner Division, where charts are being prepared 24 hours before the train departure. The current practice is doing so before 4 hours," Dilip Kumar, Executive Director, Information and Publicity, Railway Board, said.

He noted that this trial was being done keeping in mind the concerns of passengers who remain uncertain about their journey due to a waiting ticket. "Now, if they know 24 hours before that their tickets are confirmed, they can plan their travel better," he added. However, once a ticket is confirmed, passengers will lose a substantial chunk of the ticket amount as penalty in case of cancellation.

According to the cancellation policy, if a confirmed ticket is cancelled between 48 hours and 12 hours before departure, passengers will receive 25 per cent of the ticket amount back. If cancelled between 12 hours and 4 hours before departure, they will receive only 50 per cent.

"Seats or berths falling vacant due to cancellation will be filled up through the current booking system," officials said.

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