Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) offers a Shubh Yatra scheme for frequent travellers which provides reduction in railway fares. This facility can be availed through a special card called the Shubh Yatra card. Shubh Yatra scheme allows the travellers to earn ‘Railway Points’ whenever members book tickets through www.irctc.co.in and these points can be redeemed as and when required.

Indian Railways has partnered with State Bank of India to launch the IRCTC-SBI loyalty program. Users can avail an SBI co-branded credit card with which they can claim cashback on the booking amount paid for reserving train tickets and can earn rewards points. The rewards points earned on the SBI-IRCTC co-branded credit card can be redeemed for purchasing train tickets.

Once users have a minimum of 500 Railway Points, they can redeem them for free railway tickets at www.services.irctc.co.in. Railway Points can only be earned on 1st Class AC, 2nd Class AC, Executive Chair Car and AC Chair Car travel only. Railway Points cannot be earned on AC III Tier tickets. According to IRCTC, passengers can get up to 10 per cent cashback of the ticket booking amount of AC class with SBI co-branded credit card.

(Also read: How to register as a new user online on IRCTC: Follow these simple steps)

  • Railway Points are only awarded for full-fare tickets and are not awarded on concessional tickets or transactions involving vouchers
  • The user must be one of the passengers on the ticket to earn Railway Points. Also, Railway Points will be awarded only on the individual loyalty member’s fare
  • Railway Points shall accrue to the user’s account 5 days after the date of journey, provided the ticket has not been cancelled
  • First Year Membership Fee - Rs. 500; Annual Renewal Fee - Rs. 300 (taxes and transaction charges extra, as applicable)  

How to register for the Shubh Yatra scheme

Only registered users of IRCTC can apply for the Shubh Yatra card or the Railway Card online. If you are a registered user, login with your username and ID here. For the Railway Card you can also directly call the 24 hr customer helpline at 39 02 12 12 (1800 180 1295 from MTNL/BSNL lines)

(Also read: How to book e-tickets on IRCTC: Step-by-step easy guide)

How to earn Railway Points

Express Rewards Super-Fast Rewards
4 Railway Points for every Rs. 100 spent 10 Railway Points for every Rs. 100 spent
(Valid on tickets with Date of Travel between April 1 - July 14 and September 16 - January 14) (Valid on tickets with Date of Travel between January 15 - March 31 and July 15 - September 15)
  • Railway Points will always be rounded off to the lower integer
  • While redeeming the Railway Points for free railway tickets, each railway point will beequivalent to Re. 1/- of the ticket fare
  • Railway Points will be valid for a period of 3 years from the date of member’s registration.  

How to redeem Railway Points

  • To redeem the Railway Points, log on to www.irctc.co.in with your own login details (username and password)
  • Choose the option to pay through Railway Points for confirmed 1st AC, AC II Tier, AC Chair Car or Executive Chair Car tickets at the payment gateway
  • It is mandatory for the loyalty member to be one of the passengers on the ticket to redeem Railway Points
  • Loyalty members can start redeeming Railway Points once they have a minimum of 500 Railway Points in their account earned through transactions at www.irctc.co.in only
  • Redemption can be made only against the total ticket fare, inclusive of IRCTC service charges. You cannot redeem Railway Points for individual fares
  • If you cancel a redeemed ticket before the date of journey, you forfeit 50% of the Railway Points, over and above the existing cancellation charges as per the Indian Railway Commercial Rule. Remaining Railway Points will be credited back to your account 
  • On cancellation of redeemed tickets, only Railway Points would be credited back and not cash
  • You can cancel a redeemed i-ticket only at physical counters (PRS). However, if you are holding an e-ticket, you can cancel it online at www.irctc.co.in  

(Also read: How to cancel e-tickets on IRCTC: All you need to know about the process)

Validity of Railway Points:

  • Railway Card points will lapse on expiry of three years from the date of expiry of the member. For example: if account year for membership no 123456789 lies from 05.09.19 to 04.09.20 and accrued points during 05.09.19 to 04.09.20 were 1050, the expiry date for the points accrued during 05.09.19 to 04.09.20 would be 04.09.22
  • If the cardholder has redeemed 1000 points before 04.09.22 then the system shall expire the balance of 50 points from the membership account on 04.09.22. However, irrespective of the three year validity period, Railway Card Points will lapse if cardholder does not renew his/her membership