Break Journey and Circular Journey

Holders of single journey tickets for distance of more than 500 kms (Actual distance) are allowed to break journey once for two days at any station en-route. The first break of journey can be made only after a distance of 500km has been travelled from the originating station. If ticket is for more than 1000 kms, passenger will be allowed to break journey twice. No more than 2 breaks are allowed in a single trip.

A break of journey can be made for a maximum of two days, not including the day of arrival and the day of departure from the station where the journey is broken.

Break of journey is not permissible on the tickets of certain trains like Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, etc., which have separate all inclusive fare structure on point-to-point basis.

A passenger breaking their journey at any station must get the ticket endorsed at that station by the Station Master. Failure to get such an endorsement may result in the passenger being treated as a ticketless traveller in the subsequent leg of the journey.

If a passenger halts at a station and then decides not to continue the rest of the journey, it is not considered a break of journey, and the ticket must be surrendered as usual for normal processing of any refund for the untravelled portion.

You can't book a "break journey" ticket online. It has to be booked on reservation counter and a separate form has to be filled for the same.

For onward journey one can reserve a seat / berth by paying the nominal reservation charges which is Rs.20 for sleeper class and Rs.40 for third ac.

Deboarding the train at an en-route station for catching a connecting train is not treated as break journey if such halt is for less than 24 hours.

Circular journey ticket cannot be booked online. This form of ticket has to be booked on PRS counters.

Railway zones issue both standard as well as non-standard circular journey tickets.  Standard circular journey tickets are pre-decided routes, and if any of these itineraries appeal to you, you can apply for one and save out on time.

A maximum of eight breaks of journey (stopovers) are permitted on a single circular journey ticket.  However, a halt of less than 24 hours at a station to catch a connecting train is not treated as a break of journey, and you can take advantage of this rule by maximising the permissible gap between the arrival of your first train and the departure of your connecting train.

Circular journey ticket can be booked for any class of travel.

The endorsement by station master on stopover which was required during break journey is not needed on Circular Journey Tickets.

You cannot repeat any section during your trip. Exceptions are made for branch lines and sections where no alternate route is possible.

Every circular journey ticket has a specific validity period, determined by the total distance travelled. For example, for a distance of 2000Kms travelled, your circular journey ticket is valid for 15 days. There is no restriction on period of halt at any particular break you take. However, one needs to return back within the validity of circular ticket.

The circular journey ticket will be charged for two single journeys, each journey being taken as half of the total distance. Reservation charges for different legs of journeys, supplementary charge on super-fast, etc. will be levied extra. Simply said, add the distance for all the legs of the journey -> divide the distance by 2 -> Find fare for the halved distance -> Multiply the fare by 2. This gives the total circular journey ticket fare (excluding point-to-point reservation and superfast charges)

After purchasing the Circular Journey Ticket, one must approach the Reservation Office to reserve the accommodation for various laps of the journey.

40% concession for male Senior Citizens and 50% concession for female Senior Citizens are granted on the cost of the Circular Journey Tickets when travelling a minimum distance of 1000 kms.

Some zones allow you to travel on Shatabdi, Rajdhani, Duronto and Jan Shatabdi Expresses with a circular journey ticket on payment of the difference in fares.

As per the instructions laid down by the railway board, you can upgrade your ticket to a higher class for a portion of your journey by paying the difference in fare - see this link.  However, the reservation system cannot do this automatically, which means the reservation clerk has to manually calculate the difference in fares and issue you an Excess Fare Ticket for the same.  Most railway staffers are unaware of this rule, and in many cases, might flat out refuse your request.