The struggle for ticket booking has started in Indian Railways for crores of migrants going to their ancestral homes on the auspicious occasion of the country's biggest festivals – Dhanteras, Diwali, Govardhan Puja, Bhai Dooj and the great festival of folk faith, Chhath Puja. For the citizens of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal, who earn their living in metros like Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai and Kolkata, reaching home on festivals is no less than an ordeal.
The general ticket booking window for Diwali week has officially opened under the 60 days Advance Reservation Period (ARP) rule implemented by the Railways. As early as 8:00 am, lakhs of users are logging in simultaneously on the official website and mobile app of IRCTC, due to which all sleeper and AC categories of major trains (like Sampoorna Kranti, Vaishali Express, Bihar Sampark Kranti, Purva Express and Mahabodhi Express) of highly busy railway routes like Delhi-Patna, Mumbai-Gorakhpur, Delhi-Darbhanga, Surat-Varanasi and Howrah-Gaya are available within just 2 to 3 minutes. The seats are getting full and the waiting list is reaching beyond 200.
This year, the five-day festival of lights of Diwali will be celebrated starting from 6 November 2026 (Dhanteras) till 10 November 2026 (Bhai Dooj). As per the 60 day reservation rule of Indian Railways, booking for general quota starts at 8:00 am exactly 60 days before the day on which the train departs from its origin station.
Ticket booking dates for key days of Diwali are as follows:
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Travel from 5th November 2026 (departure before Diwali): The booking window for travel on this date has opened today, 6 September 2026, at 8:00 AM.
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Yatra of 6 November 2026 (Dhanteras): Ticket booking to travel on Dhanteras tomorrow i.e. 7 September 2026 Will start at 8:00 am.
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Visit of 7th November 2026 (Chhoti Diwali/Narak Chaturdashi): day trip tickets 8 September 2026 Can be booked from 8:00 am onwards.
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Yatra of 8th November 2026 (Badi Diwali/Lakshmi Puja): Main booking window for catching train on Diwali day 9 September 2026 Will open at 8:00 am.
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Yatra of 9th November 2026 (Govardhan Puja / Annakoot): tickets for this date 10 September 2026 Will be booked.
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Yatra of 10th November 2026 (Bhai Dooj/Yam Dwitiya): Booking to reach home on Bhai Dooj 11 September 2026 Will be active at 8:00 am.
The largest crowd of passengers gathers in trains on 'Chhath Puja', the biggest cultural and religious festival of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand. This holy ritual lasting four days will be held this year from 13 November 2026 to 16 November 2026. Booking dates 60 days in advance are extremely important to ensure timely delivery of Chhath vratis and their families home:
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13 November 2026 (First Day – Nahay-Khay): Booking of tickets to reach home on the first day of Chhath Puja 14 September 2026 Will open at 8:00 am.
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14 November 2026 (Day 2 – Kharna/Lohanda): Reservation window for day trip to Kharna 15 September 2026 Will open at 8:00 am.
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15 November 2026 (3rd day – Evening Arghya/Main Puja): Booking for passengers traveling on the day of offering Arghya to the setting sun 16 September 2026 Will start at 8:00 am.
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16 November 2026 (4th day – Usha Arghya/Paran): Booking for Arghya to the rising sun and the concluding day of the fast. 17 September 2026 Will open on.
After the end of Chhath Puja, there will be huge pressure to return to work between 17th November to 21st November 2026. Reservation for return journey 60 days in advance will open from 8:00 AM IST between September 18 and September 22, 2026.
During the festive season, every second is priced on IRCTC. Thousands of seats disappear within 60 to 90 seconds of the booking window opening. If you also want to get a confirmed ticket, then it is mandatory to adopt these 5 technical hacks:
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1. Already using IRCTC 'Master List' feature: At least 30 to 40 seconds of time is wasted in typing name, age, gender and berth preference at the time of ticket booking. To avoid this, go to IRCTC profile one day before the opening of booking and pre-save the details of all the passengers in 'My Profile > Master List'. By simply clicking on 'Add Existing' at the time of booking, the names of all the passengers will be filled in the form within a second.
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2. Make payment through IRCTC e-Wallet: Slow servers of the payment gateway and delay in receiving the OTP from the bank often push the ticket from confirmed to waiting. To avoid this, pre-load money in your IRCTC e-Wallet. By making payment through e-wallet, there is no need to redirect to any bank gateway and the payment is completed in just 5 seconds by directly entering the profile password/transaction PIN. Apart from this, UPI QR code (Auto-scan UPI) also works much faster than card payment.
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3. Login at 7:55 AM and have high-speed internet: Do not make the mistake of logging in exactly at 8:00 am, as at that time due to heavy traffic on the server, the captcha may not load or a time-out error may occur. Always login between 7:55 to 7:57 in the morning and open the train list. Refresh your seat at exactly 8:00:01 and click on 'Book Now' directly.
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4. Must select 'VIKALP' (option) scheme: While booking tickets, tick the 'Vikalp' (Alternate Train Accommodation Scheme) option given below in the form. If your ticket in the main train goes into waiting list, the Railways' automated system allots you a confirmed seat on the vacant berth in any other special or regular train running on the same route without any extra charges.
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5. Route tweaking and change of boarding station: If tickets are not available from your main station, try to book tickets at the train's origin or one station in advance and set your boarding point at the nearest station. As per railway rules, changing the boarding station does not affect the validity of the ticket, whereas the chances of getting a confirmed seat in the long distance quota increases manifold.
If for some reason your seat is not confirmed in a normal booking 60 days in advance, there is no need to panic. Passengers have a strong choice of 'Tatkal' and 'Premium Tatkal' quotas which open just one day before the journey:
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AC Class Tatkal: morning one day before the date of travel at 10:00 Tatkal quota of AC (1A, 2A, 3A, 3E, CC) opens.
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Non-AC/Sleeper Urgent: the morning before the trip at 11:00 Immediate quota of sleeper and second sitting opens.
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Features of Premium Tatkal: Dynamic pricing is applied in Premium Tatkal quota, where the fare increases according to demand, but the chances of getting a ticket in this quota are much higher than in normal Tatkal because brokers and agents are not able to book this quota instantly.
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Current Booking: Seats that get canceled or remain vacant after the first chart of the train is prepared (4 hours before departure) can be booked at a discount of 10 to 20 percent in the 'Current Booking' window.
The Indian Railway Board has prepared a comprehensive action plan to control the record rush of passengers during the festive season. According to railway officials, real-time monitoring of the increasing waiting list in regular trains is being done.
From the last week of October to mid-November, 'Diwali and Chhath Puja Special Trains' with more than 1,000 trips will be run from across the country. Majority of these special trains will be of Garib Rath, Gati Shakti and Jansadharan (unreserved) trains, so that people of general income group can also travel easily. Apart from this, 2 to 3 additional sleepers and general coaches will be added to major express trains and 'Clone Trains' will also be arranged on long distance main routes. Passengers are advised to keep a close eye on the notifications of special trains to be announced by the Railways in case of non-availability of seats in regular trains.