Enter your journey date and get the precise advance-booking opening date — plus Tatkal timing, refund estimate and reminders, all in one place.
Booking for any journey opens 60 days earlier at 08:00 AM IST. Pick your date below to see the exact day.
Short answers first. Each one has its own page with a calculator and the full detail.
60 days for general reservations (journey day not counted). Tatkal opens 1 day before. The old 120-day rule ended on 31 October 2024.
ARP is how early a ticket can be booked: 60 days. If IRCTC says the journey date is not within ARP, your date is simply still too far away.
General at 08:00 AM IST. Tatkal at 10:00 AM (AC) and 11:00 AM (Sleeper and 2S). Live countdown on the page.
Everything a passenger needs around the 60-day advance reservation rule — not just a date, but the whole decision.
Enter your journey date and get the exact opening date — origin-station accurate, not an approximation.
Push the date straight to Google, Apple, Outlook, Yahoo Calendar, a downloadable .ics, or WhatsApp yourself.
AC and Non-AC Tatkal opening times, laid out clearly, one day before your journey.
See roughly what you'd get back before cancelling, based on how close you are to departure.
One tap for Diwali, Chhath, Christmas, New Year and Pongal rush — no manual date lookup.
Switch the whole interface language from the top bar — built for passengers, not just English readers.
Search 8,660+ Indian Railway stations by name or code — instantly, no login.
Rough fare by distance and class, plus total journey duration for overnight trips.
Visual berth maps for Sleeper, 3A, 3E, 2A, 1A, Chair Car and Second Sitting.
A quick estimate based on standard IRCTC cancellation slabs. Always confirm the exact amount on IRCTC before cancelling.
Add each journey date and see all the booking-opening dates side by side — handy for planning a family trip or multiple legs at once.
Tatkal opens exactly one day before the journey date (excluding day of journey), from the origin station.
Find out exactly when your train's reservation chart is prepared — the point after which waiting-list tickets are locked in and vacant confirmed berths open up.
The first chart is usually prepared 4 hours before scheduled departure from the origin station — or, if departure is between midnight and 8:00 AM, the previous evening (around 8:00 PM). A final chart update, reflecting last-minute cancellations, is typically prepared closer to departure. These are standard timings — always confirm with IRCTC or station enquiry for your specific train, since some trains vary.
IRCTC allows advance reservation up to 60 days before the date of journey (excluding the day of journey), counted from the train's origin station — not your boarding station.
General advance booking opens at 08:00 AM IST on the 60th day before your journey date.
No — the window is always calculated from the train's origin (starting) station date. If you board mid-route, your effective booking date may open a day later than shown.
Yes. Indian Railways has changed the Advance Reservation Period before (it was 120 days until October 2024). Always cross-check with the official IRCTC website before relying on any date.
Since 1 October 2025, only Aadhaar-authenticated IRCTC accounts can access the first 15 minutes of opening-day general reserved booking online. If your account isn't Aadhaar-verified, you can still book after that window — but on high-demand routes, those first 15 minutes matter. Verify your Aadhaar in your IRCTC profile well before your journey's booking date.
Almost. IRCTC's e-ticketing service generally runs from about 12:20 AM to 11:45 PM, with a short nightly maintenance gap roughly between 11:45 PM and 12:20 AM. Avoid relying on booking or checking status in that window.
ARP is how many days before the journey a ticket can be booked. For general reservations it is 60 days, counted back from the origin-station journey date, and booking opens at 08:00 AM IST.
Because that date is still more than 60 days away. Use the calculator above to find the exact day booking opens, then try again at 08:00 AM IST.
Four months (120 days) was the rule until 31 October 2024. Today the limit is 60 days, which is a little under two months. The exact date is on the calculator.
TrainsDate