The Indian Railways will be issuing linked PNRs for connecting journeys just like airlines so as to allow passengers to cancel their onward trips without any cancellation fees, in case of delays in their first leg, according to a PTI reporting citing a senior official.

To be facilitated to passengers from 1 April 2019, the change is expected to benefit travellers who book continuous trains for their journeys and miss the subsequent train due to a delay in the arrival of the preceding train caused by fog, protest or other reasons.

In an order accessed by PTI, the Railway Board said that after the linked PNRs are issued, the railway passenger will get a full refund of the fare without levy of any cancellation and clerical charges on the untravelled portion of the journey due the delay caused by a train.

Conditions:

• The passenger will have to surrender his/her ticket within three hours of the actual arrival time of the previous train.
• The option will be available for all classes of tickets book online or over the counter.
• Name of the passenger on both the PNRs should match.
• The destination station in the main train should be the same or in a defined cluster as the boarding station in the connecting train.