Read the new rules of Railways before leaving for the journey, otherwise trouble may arise on the platform.

News India Live, Digital Desk: It is the month of December and winter holidays are upon us. In such a situation, many of us might be planning to go home or travel. But before you pack your bags, wait! Indian Railways has recently made changes in some of its systems and rules or rather it has started strictly implementing the old rules. If you remain unaware of these, the fun of the journey can be spoiled.

Let us understand in simple language what effect this will have on your journey.

1. Leave of Tatkal tickets and brokers?
We all know that getting a confirmed ticket during festivals is no less than winning a battle. As soon as Tatkal Booking opens, seats disappear within a few seconds. IRCTC is now very strict to stop this and bring transparency. Now while booking Tatkal ticket or taking refund OTP (One Time Password) The role of has become very important.

Especially if you book a ticket through an agent and cancel it, the refund OTP will now come directly on the passenger’s (ie your) mobile. Unless you give that code to the agent, he will not get the money back. The advantage of this is that the agent will no longer be able to lie to you that “the money has not yet come from the Railways”.

2. Traveling in AC with waiting ticket? forget it now
What used to happen earlier was that people used to take ‘Window Waiting Tickets’ from the counter and enter the reserved coaches (especially sleeper and AC) indiscriminately. Then he would request the TTE to complete the journey.

But now Railways has taken a tough stance regarding this. According to the new instructions, if your ticket remains waiting even after chart preparation, then you cannot travel in reserved coaches. If caught, the TTE may drop you at the next station or send you to the general compartment with a heavy fine. Therefore, do not rely on ‘Jugaad’ anymore.

3. Luggage limit: Will we have to weigh our luggage now?
This news remains much discussed on social media. People are worried whether now luggage will be weighed in trains like in flights? See, the rules are the same but now random checking has increased at railway stations.

• Sleeper Class: You can take up to 40 kg of luggage with you free of charge.
• AC Two Tier/Three Tier: The limit here is up to 50 kg.
• AC First Class: In this you can carry luggage up to 70 kg.

If you have more luggage than this, you will have to book it in the ‘Luggage Van’. If you are caught carrying excess luggage without booking, you may have to pay a fine up to 6 times more. Therefore, it is wise to keep the journey light.

4. Stop running around for refunds
Many times the ticket gets canceled automatically (e-ticket waiting list) but it takes time for the money to be credited to the account. Railways has now claimed to make its payment gateway and refund process faster and transparent than before. If you have booked the ticket through IRCTC yourself, the money should be credited to the source account in 2-3 days.

Overall, the aim of the Railways is to make your journey safe and free from touts. So, next time before going to the station, do check the status of your ticket and the weight of your bag!