Boarding Station Change Rules on IRCTC

Plans change — maybe you're now travelling from a different city than when you first booked. IRCTC allows changing your boarding point, but only within specific rules.

How to Change Your Boarding Station

1. Log in to IRCTC and go to "Booked Ticket History".
2. Select the ticket and choose "Boarding Point Change" (available for e-tickets).
3. Choose a new boarding station from the list of stations the train actually stops at, between the original origin and your destination.
4. Confirm — the change is normally allowed only once per ticket.

Key Deadline

Boarding point change is typically allowed only up to a specific cut-off before departure (commonly 24 hours before the scheduled departure from the original boarding station) — after that, the option disappears from your booking. Always check the exact current cut-off shown on your ticket's change option, since this window can vary.

What Happens If You Don't Change It and Skip the Original Station

If you simply don't board at your originally booked station and don't formally change it, your seat can be released/reallocated to a waiting-list passenger at a later station once the train departs the original boarding point without you checking in — meaning you risk losing your confirmed berth entirely. Always update the boarding point in advance rather than assuming you can just "catch it further down the line."

A Few Rules to Remember

• You can only move the boarding point forward along the train's existing route — not to a station outside it.
• The change is free of charge.
• Fare doesn't change (except in rare fare-slab edge cases) since your destination and distance-based booking segment remains the same.

Useful tools: IRCTC booking date calculator · advance reservation period (ARP) · how many days before you can book