India’s Supreme Court has ordered the Railway Board to extend travel insurance to tickets bought at station counters nationwide from 27 October 2026, ending the disparity with online bookings.
India’s Supreme Court has ordered that travel insurance be added to train tickets bought at station counters, extending a benefit that until now had largely been available only to online passengers. The direction is set to take effect on October 27, 2026, and is intended to close a long-running gap between digital and offline bookings, according to reports in LiveMint and The Indian Express.
The move comes out of a railway safety case linked to the June 2023 Odisha train accident, which renewed scrutiny of passenger protection and the pace of safety reforms across the network. Reports in The Economic Times and IndiaLive said the court wants passengers to have the same insurance option regardless of whether they buy tickets on the internet or at a reservation counter.
Under the order, the Railway Board has been told to ensure the change is implemented nationwide and has been warned that it will be held directly accountable if the directive is not carried out. The Indian Express and LawTrend both reported that the court also voiced frustration with the Ministry of Railways over delays in carrying out broader safety commitments.
For passengers, the practical effect is straightforward: anyone buying an offline train ticket should soon be covered by the same insurance framework already available to online travellers. The exact benefits will still depend on the policy terms, including what events are covered and what payments may apply, RedBus said in its summary of the ruling. In that sense, the order is less about creating a new product than about making an existing safety net accessible to far more people.
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