Not travelling, no problem: Here`s how you can transfer confirmed train tickets

Transfer of confirmed tickets in most cases can happen only if a written request is submitted 24 or 48 hours before the scheduled departure time.

New Delhi: Travel by train has several perks over taking the aerial route even though the cost of flying in India has come down significantly over the last decade or so. Nonetheless, there is something that flight companies do not allow - transferring your ticket to someone else. But that is not the case with Indian Railways.

If, for any unforeseen reason, you have to transfer your confirmed train tickets to someone else, it is indeed permitted and the process is far simpler than what you may have thought before. Following are certain simple points to keep in mind when making such a transfer.

* A passenger can transfer his or her ticket to another member of his or her family by making a written submission 24 hours prior to departure of the relevant train. Father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, wife, and husband are relations accepted under this category of transfer.

* A government servant on duty can transfer his or her ticket with a written request 24 hours prior to departure of the relevant train.

* In case a student of a recognised educational institute wants to transfer his ticket, he or she will have to procure a written request from the head of the institution and submit it 24 hours prior to departure of the relevant train. In such a case, the transfer can only be made to another student of the same institution.

* Members of a marriage party can designate any one person as head of the group and he or she can make a written request for a transfer 48 hours before the departure of the relevant train. Such requests, however, would only be granted once.

* NCC cadets too can transfer their confirmed tickets to other cadets provided they submit a written request from an officer 24 hours before scheduled departure of the train.

* In case of student groups, NCC cadets and large groups for marriage, Indian Railways has announced that transfer can only happen for up to 10 per cent of the total members in the said group. The rule of granting change only once also applies here.