New Delhi, February 22: The Indian Railways have decided to issue linked PNRs for connecting journey tickets from April 1 onwards. Linked PNRs will allow passengers to cancel their onward journey without any cancellation fee if the first train gets delayed due to fog, protests or any other reason during their trip. Passengers will also get a refund for the untravelled leg of their journey.

"In case of linked PNRs, if a rail passenger misses connecting train owing to late running of the train by which he had been travelling, the fare for untravelled portion shall be refunded, without levying any cancellation or clerkage charge," said a Railway Board order, accessed by news agency PTI. To get a refund for untravelled journey ticket, a passenger has to surrender the ticket within three hours of the actual arrival time of the first train. Ram Sethu Express: Railways Offers New Tour Package to Cover TN Temples.

Passengers booking tickets via IRCTC app, other online mediums and counters will get linked PNRs which is applicable for all classes. Names of passengers on both the PNRs and the destination station in the main train should be the same or in a defined cluster as the boarding station in the connecting train. Inspired by Gully Boy, Indian Railways Says 'Tera Time Aayega' to Ticketless Travellers (Watch Video).

“This will greatly help passengers as they will not be in fear of losing money if they miss their connecting train. There were instances that the non-linking of PNRs resulted in problems for passengers during cancellation of tickets. This will be easier now,” a senior official was quoted as saying.

Passengers travelling by air are given the same PNR for their onward journeys if they are travelling by the same airline or are part of an alliance of airlines. This enables passengers to travel hassle-free, as their luggage is usually transferred automatically to the next flight and they are issued boarding passes for all their trips during the first leg of their journeys.

However, in case of connecting flight booked on the same PNR, if the first flight is delayed due to airline’s fault, the airline does not have to provide any compensation to passenger, according to the present DGCA regulations.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 22, 2019 09:26 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).