New Delhi: To avoid rush by ensuring hassle-free ticket booking experience during the upcoming peak festive seasons, the Ministry of Railways on Saturday said that it has decided to formulate a ‘Round Trip Package’ on discounted fare and rebates benefit.

The move will facilitate passengers and redistribute the peak traffic for a larger range during peak festival seasons and ensure both sides utilisation of trains, including special trains.

“It has been decided to formulate an experimental scheme named as Round Trip Package for festival rush on discounted fare,” the Railways Ministry stated.

According to the ministry, the scheme will be applicable for those passengers who choose their return journey during the prescribed period.

Under this scheme, rebates shall be applicable when booked for both the onward and return journey for the same set of passengers.

Passenger details of the return journey will be the same as those of the onward journey. Passengers can book their tickets from August 14 for the advance reservation period (ARP) date of October 13.

“An onward ticket shall be booked first for the train start date between 13th October 2025 and 26th October 2025, and subsequently return journey ticket shall be booked by using the connecting journey feature for the train start date between 17th November and 1st December 2025,” the Ministry stated.

However, advance reservation period will not be applicable for booking of return journey.

Other conditions to avail the benefits of the railway’s new special scheme are the booking shall be permissible only for confirmed tickets in both directions, total rebates of 20 per cent shall be granted on base fare of return journey only, booking under this scheme shall be for the same class and same O-D pair for both onward and return journey.

According to Railways, no refund of fare shall be permissible for the tickets booked under this scheme.

This scheme shall be allowed for all classes and in all trains, including special trains (Trains on demand), except trains having Flexi fare.

In addition, no modification will be allowed on these tickets in either of the journeys, and there will be no discounts, Rail travel coupons, Voucher-based bookings, or Passes be admissible during return journey booking on concessional fare.

Passenger can book their ticket via both online and offline modes; however, both onward and return journey tickets must be booked using the same mode (online or offline).

Nagpur: NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar on Saturday claimed that two individuals had met him in New Delhi before the 2024 Maharashtra assembly polls and “guaranteed” the Opposition’s victory in 160 of 288 constituencies.

Addressing the media in Nagpur, Pawar said he introduced the duo to the leader of the opposition, Rahul Gandhi.

The disclosure by Pawar comes amid a huge row over Gandhi’s “vote theft” charge against the BJP and the Election Commission.

“Two persons met me in New Delhi before the 2024 assembly polls in Maharashtra. They offered to help the Opposition (Maha Vikas Aghadi) win 160 of the 288 seats with a guarantee,” the former Union minister claimed.

“I introduced them to Rahul Gandhi. He ignored what was told to him. He was also of the view that we (Opposition) shouldn’t get involved in such things and go to the people directly,” he added.

Pawar claimed that since he didn’t assign any importance to claims made by the two individuals, he didn’t possess their names and contact details.

The BJP won 132 seats in the assembly elections with allies Shiv Sena and NCP adding 57 and 41 constituencies, respectively, to the saffron tally.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi, which bagged 30 of 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra months before the assembly elections were held, had attributed its rout to discrepancies in EVMs and fudging of data.

Gandhi on Thursday made explosive claims of a “huge criminal fraud” in polls through collusion between the BJP and the Election Commission, citing an analysis in a constituency in Karnataka, and saying it was “a crime against the Constitution”.

Mumbai: A 53-year-old woman, Ambubai Sonawane, succumbed a day after a road accident in Goregaon East. She was riding pillion on a motorcycle driven by her 29-year-old acquaintance, Shubham Ghatwal, when the incident occurred at the Goregaon check naka while attempting to overtake a BEST bus on August 5. She was declared dead during treatment on August 6.

About The Accident

According to the police, Sonawane, a junior artist in the film industry, resided in Shanti Niketan, Goregaon East, with her family. On August 4, she went to Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari for a film shoot. The next morning, around 8.30 am, while returning home, she met Ghatwal, who offered her a ride. As they headed towards the Goregaon check post, Ghatwal attempted to overtake a bus and collided with an oncoming two-wheeler.

Sonawane fell, sustaining serious injuries. She was first taken to Seven Hills Hospital, Andheri. After receiving first aid, she was brought home. Later, her son took her to Trauma Care Hospital in Jogeshwari East, where she was declared dead during treatment.