Indian Railways Launches Online Booking for Excess and Personal Luggage

Overview

• The new service went live on Friday, July 31, 2026, and lets confirmed-ticket passengers use parcel.indianrail.gov.in to declare and reserve excess or personal luggage before travel.
• The portal provides an automatic estimated freight charge but requires passengers to present items at the origin parcel office for final weighing, payment, and a receipt needed to claim baggage at the destination.
• Excess baggage is charged at 1.5 times the standard luggage rate with a minimum fare of Rs 30, billing in 10 kg increments and a 50 km minimum distance for rate calculations.
• The online option is available only for travel classes that allow paid excess inside compartments and excludes AC 3-Tier and AC Chair Car because their free allowance equals the maximum permitted weight.
• The Railway Board directed zonal railways to implement the change and asked the Centre for Railway Information Systems to develop and test the application, a step that aims to cut station queues and paperwork and build on older luggage rules from Freight Marketing Circular No.38/2006.