Train traveling becomes an effective choice for most travelers as it is budget-friendly. Sometimes, the train journey plans of people get dropped due to the tickets in the wait list category. Everyone expects to be comfortable on their journey with confirmed tickets. No one wants to get the pain of being into the segment of the waitlist category. Still, we often get into extreme emergencies where no choice is left, and we have to board the train with a waitlisted ticket. In such short-notice scenarios, people do not get the chance to book tickets early to enjoy the confirmed ticket benefits.
Considering train journey problems, Indian Railways actively worked to solve this genuine concern of passengers. They introduced one solution of ‘Clone Train.’ To get the confirmed IRCTC ticket booking, you can use Railofy with the feature of a travel guarantee. Let’s get an overview of the clone train!
What Do You Mean By Clone Train?
Clone trains especially run between demanded routes to manage the crowd; their booking opens much later than regular trains i.e., 30 days in advance. The clone train carries a kind of special train and charges the fare of Humsafar trains which is Mail/ express train fare plus 15%.
Let’s understand this feature with a simple example. Train number 12296/Sanghamitra SF Express has got all the seats reserved for the journey, and there are still many people on the train waiting list. In such a situation, Indian Railways runs a train that is 06510/Danapur – KSR Bengaluru Clone Special Express on the same path as the original train with timings very close to the original train. The clone train usually takes 3 to 5 hours more than the regular train. So, this way, the IRCTC ticket booking of waitlisted passengers gets shifted to clone trains.
A few updates on clone trains are:-
- The stoppage of this clone train will be less in comparison to the original train.
- Clone train has only reserved classes, hence no unreserved coaches.
- These clone trains will majorly contain AC 3-tier coaches
- Indian Railways will monitor major trains that consist of long waiting lists frequently and decide accordingly to run the clone train
- Usually, their frequency of operation is weekly or bi-weekly.
How Is Vikalp Scheme Different from Clone Trains?
The Vikalp scheme by Indian Railways was started to allow passengers to opt for trains departing between 30 minutes to 72 Hours from the scheduled departure of the original train, in which they have booked a waitlisted ticket. Under it, if your ticket is nearing the date of the journey and it’s still waitlisted then an alternate train will be defined to you from the trains list that you have chosen earlier during the time of booking. This scheme is different from clone trains. Also, a major drawback under the scheme is managing the same time for other trains by passengers. The traveling time for passengers stretches with certain hours due to reservations on another train.
To overcome this drawback, Indian Railways has devised different optimal solutions to solve the timing problem. The scheme of clone trains addressed the waitlisted segment concerns in a better way.
India faced the challenge of a huge rush for IRCTC booking during the time of the COVID outbreak, which has raised the demand for this clone train scheme. The government has understood the pain of people meeting their families after the lockdown period. They aim to bring back these hopeful people safely to their homes.
List of the trains introduced by the government during the COVID times:-
- Train No. 06509/ 06510 – Clone train between Bengaluru and Danapur
- Train No. 06523/ 06524 – Clone train between Yesvantpur and Nizamuddin
- Train No. 09465/ 09466 – Clone train between Ahmedabad and Darbhanga
- Train No. 09415/ 09416 – Clone train between Ahmedabad and Delhi
- Train No. 02563/ 02564 – Clone train between New Delhi and Saharsa
- Train No. 02569/ 02570 – Clone train between New Delhi and Darbhanga
- Train No. 02573/ 02574 – Clone train between Muzaffarpur and Delhi
- Train No. 03293/ 03294 – Clone train between Rajendra Nagar and New Delhi
- Train No. 05485/ 05486 – Clone train between Katihar and Delhi
- Train No. 09065/ 09066 – Clone train between Surat and Chhapra
- Train No. 09025/ 09026 – Clone train between Bandra (T) and Amritsar
- Train No.09447/ 09448 – Clone train between Ahmedabad and Patna
- Train No. 03391/ 03392 – Clone train between New Delhi and Rajgir
- Train No. 04653/ 04654 – Clone train between New Jalpaiguri and Amritsar
- Train No. 04651/04652 – Clone train between Jaynagar and Amritsar
- Train No. 04059/ 04060 – Clone train between Varanasi and New Delhi
- Train No. 04055/ 04056 – Clone train between Ballia and Delhi
- Train No. 04251/ 04252 – Clone train between Lucknow and New Delhi
- Train No. 02787/ 02788 – Clone train between Secunderabad and Danapur
- Train No. 07379/ 07380 – Clone train between Vasco and Nizamuddin
According to this train list by Indian Railways, 5-pairs of trains were operated between the route of Bihar & Delhi towards the East Central Railways. The origination & destination of these trains were Bihar’s Saharsa, Darbhanga, Rajendra Nagar, Rajgir, and Muzaffarpur. Two trains operated under Northeast Frontier Railway for Bihar routes covering Katihar to Delhi and vice versa. Under the Northern Railway, 10 trains were running between Delhi and Bihar, Punjab to West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh to Delhi, and West Bengal to Delhi.
Two trains were operating for the South Central Railway, covering Danapur (Bihar) to Secunderabad & back. Additionally, the route South Western Railway operated 3 pairs of trains between Karnataka-Bihar, Goa and Delhi, and Karnataka-Delhi. Moving towards Western Railway, 10 trains were operating to cover destinations of Gujarat(Ahmedabad)-Bihar (Patna), Delhi-Gujarat, Bihar (Chhapra) to Gujarat (Surat), Mumbai-Punjab, Bihar (Darbhanga)-Gujarat(Ahmedabad).
If you do not want to be on the waitlist and do not have time to wait, then Railofy’s Travel Guarantee may be the best option to get your confirmed tickets!
Railofy – IRCTC Ticket Booking!
Planning for your next train journey and looking for an option to get the confirmed tickets? Railofy – premium partner of IRCTC, we can provide you with services for IRCTC ticket bookings. Apart from these IRCTC bookings, choose Railofy for Indian railways updates and order the cleanest food on the train by placing your order on the Railofy app. We also bring travel guarantee features for RAC & waitlist tickets. Passengers can check the PNR status conveniently with Railofy; WhatsApp us at 9881193322. Download our Railofy app & upgrade your train journeys.