The Traveling Ticket Examiner (TTE) has revealed a hack to ensure seniors get lower berths on trains. His tips on how to make it work on IRCTC have been trending on social media as Indian Railways revises its rules.
Indian Railways has recently updated its passenger reservation system to make travel easier for elderly passengers. Lower beds will now be automatically provided to eligible passengers such as senior citizens, women over 45, pregnant women and persons with disabilities if available at the time of booking.
IRCTC’s new feature allows users to select ‘Book only if lower berth available’. So the system will cancel the request if one is not available. Prevents discomfort for those who cannot climb the upper bunks.
Indian Railways has also directed the TTE to allocate vacant lower berths during travel to priority passengers, if possible.
Officials said the new rules aim to make train travel more responsive and inclusive for passengers with mobility issues. Indian Railways has introduced these changes as part of its wider drive to improve comfort and support the government’s Accessible India Campaign.
The zonal authorities have been instructed to monitor the allocation of lower beds and address the reported issues. Under the revised system, women aged 45 and over, seniors and people with disabilities will automatically prefer lower berths. Pregnant women can request special accommodation with a medical certificate.
A trick to ensure lower beds for the elderly
In a video shared on Reddit, TTE shares this trick while on the New Delhi – Dibrugarh Rajdhani Express. He mentions that he met four senior citizens who complained about why they were assigned the middle and upper berths.
“Maximum two seniors should book the tickets together. In that case, their lower berth will be confirmed. If three or more seniors book the ticket together, they will not be able to avail the benefits of the lower berth,” says TTE.
“If you want to take advantage of the lower beds, don’t book for more than two people at a time. If you are four seniors, split it into two parts. Then you get the lower beds,” he adds.
However, some Reddit users found humor in the proposal.
“Senior citizen in S1, their family (administrators) in S12,” joked one of them.
“Very sarkari babu rule. So if there are 4 in a family traveling with 2 senior citizens, then in a single PNR, they can’t book because as in the above case, all 4 may not have LB. But if they book 2 together, the old people can get a lower berth, but since it’s a different PNR, the other family members might have come in a different coach, Indians Railway altogether.”
“I am ready to pay ₹50-100 extra for choosing each seat like an airplane,” quipped another.
Another user pointed out: “It’s not a bug, it’s a feature!”
