Reservation enquiry — IRCTC advance booking date calculator

The Advance Reservation Period is how far ahead Indian Railways will sell you a reserved ticket. Since 1 November 2024 it is 60 days, excluding the date of journey. Booking for the 60th day opens every morning at 8:00 AM IST, at counters and on IRCTC alike.

So for a journey on 15 October, counting back 60 days lands on 16 August — that is the morning you need to be ready.

Tatkal opens one day before the train's scheduled departure from its originating station — not from your boarding station, which trips people up on long-distance trains.

• AC 1A · 2A · 3A · 3E · CC · EC — 10:00 AM IST
• Non-AC SL · 2S — 11:00 AM IST

Authorised travel agents are barred from the first 30 minutes of each Tatkal window, so 10:00–10:30 and 11:00–11:30 belong to individual passengers.

Yes, increasingly. Aadhaar-authenticated IRCTC accounts get the reservation day to themselves: from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM IST on the ARP opening day, only Aadhaar-verified users can book. Everyone else joins after 4:00 PM. Online Tatkal has required Aadhaar-based OTP authentication since July 2025.

Link and verify your Aadhaar in My Profile well before the day — it is not something to attempt at 7:58 AM.

• Foreign tourists booking through authorised channels get 365 days.
• Some day-time intercity trains carry a shorter ARP notified by the zonal railway.
• Special and festival trains open when notified, which may be well inside 60 days.
• Current booking opens after the chart is prepared, roughly 4 hours before departure.

• Log in by 7:55 AM and stay logged in. Do not refresh at 7:59.
• Save passengers in the Master List beforehand — it removes the slowest step.
• Keep IRCTC eWallet or UPI ready; card OTP is where most bookings are lost.
• Have a second train and class decided in advance, so you are not choosing under pressure.