India Railway Reservations

Booking India Railway tickets over the Internet

Booking from abroad is a little difficult, if you are totally new to how India, and India railway systems in particular, work. Online seat availability checks and online train ticket booking though the Indian Railways website (http://www.irctc.co.in/) for most of the trains is available. You have two options when you book India Railway tickets over the internet:
Indian Railways I-Ticket Reservations

You make an I-Ticket India Railway booking on the internet, but you have it delivered to an address in India. Lists of cities and towns where this courier service is available to are published on the site. Unfortunately, the India railway booking office does not courier tickets to overseas locations. You will have to provide a local address to send these tickets. Possible suggestions for destinations are a friend currently located in India or the hotel you might be staying at in India. You should allow for about two to three days’ delivery time.
Indian Railways E-Ticket Reservations

You make your E-Ticket Indian Railway booking over the internet, but you print the ticket yourself on your home computer. This is a good idea if you have access to a printer and you don’t want to have them couriered somewhere.

NOTE: You can no longer pick tickets booked online at the Delhi train station.

You have to register online on the India railway website in order for the site to process your purchase. An extra service charge of 1.8% is levied on the total cost of the tickets for internet bookings. The site takes Visa and MasterCard. A refund is made on the card if you cancel the ticket later. Make sure you note down the 10 digit PNR and the Transaction ID... you will need this if you want to cancel.

You can make a maximum of four online bookings a month, and each ticket can be for a maximum of six passengers.

One option for India travelers who anticipate traveling on the India railway system a lot is the Indiarail pass, which is available to foreign tourists from abroad. However, if you are not planning on traveling a lot by train, this is not worth the expense.
Booking India Railway tickets in person

Passengers on Indian trains can reserve tickets in person at the India railway reservation counters in India - there are hundreds of them all over the country. Most cities have ticket counters located at multiple locations for the passengers’ convenience. There are special quotas for foreign tourists. Enquire about this at the reservation enquiry counter on your route. India railway ticket counters are open 8.00 a.m. till 8.00 p.m. on weekdays, and 8.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. on Sundays.

You can use credit cards for booking tickets at the reservation counters - look for the special Credit Card counters at the reservation office. You need to pay an additional Rs. 30 as a service charge. But the credit card queues are generally shorter than the cash queues. Use your discretion.

Most large hotels in India offer travel services to their guests, and can arrange to get India railway tickets for you. For approximately Rs 30.00 per seat, they will get someone to stand in the queue for you and book the ticket. This is an easy way out for India travelers who choose not to experience the reservation counter experience personally.
Checking Seat Availability on the India Railway System

When searching for seat availability you will come across notations like "AVAILABLE- 0068", meaning that 68 seats are available for the day you have indicated. When searching for seat availability on particular Indian trains, you may also encounter notations like "WL 40/WL 10". This may look a bit confusing for a new user, but there’s a perfectly logical explanation and, once you understand it, this is a useful bit of information.

Basically, there are two types of reservations on Indian trains:

* Seats with berth are reserved on a first-come-first-served basis.
* Once the seats with berths are allocated, all other requests are under the "Reservation against Cancellations" category, popularly known as RAC.

RAC is not a waiting list in the conventional sense. You can still board the train with a RAC ticket, and you do have a confirmed seat. However, a sleeping berth will be allotted based on availability due to cancellations.

Only after the "seat only " seats are also filled does the real concept of a "waiting list" come into the picture, and this is where the "WL 40/WL10" notation comes into play. This notation on your India railway ticket means that you were the 40th person on the waiting list, but due to cancellations you are currently 10th on the waiting list.

Now why, you may ask, would you need to know how many seats got cancelled? Good question. An experienced India railway traveler will know how many seats generally get cancelled on a particular train route, and can plan his trip accordingly. It’s definitely chancy, but to give you an idea, over 200 seats generally get cancelled for a Second Class Sleeper on an Indian train.

Make sure you check the status of your ticket just before boarding an Indian train, to see if you have an RAC or WL ticket. You can do this through the internet, at the reservation enquiry counter, or over the phone. The telephone number for the Interactive Voice Response System is on the reverse of the ticket. You will need the 10 digit PNR printed on the upper left hand corner of the ticket to check your ticket type.

You will not have a seat assigned to you if the status is WL. Contact the TTE to determine your chances of getting a berth. However you can still travel with this ticket in the General Compartment.
Cancellations and Lost Tickets

Passengers on the Indian Railway System can cancel a reserved ticket and get a refund through the reservation counter. Generally the cancellation charges vary from a little less than $0.25 USD to slightly more than $1.00 USD, depending on the class. If you cancel a reservation at least a day in advance of your journey, excluding the actual day of travel, this range of cancellation fee will apply. If you cancel between one day and 4 hours before train departure, 25% of ticket cost plus the above mentioned cancellation fee is charged as a fee. You can still cancel the reservation, though, actually even after the train has departed. But the refund amount will vary, although typically you will lose about 50% of the total ticket cost. For a wait-listed ticket, there is no cancellation fee if cancelled in advance. A chart of cancellation fees for the India railway system is displayed at all the reservation counters. It shows the refund % based on class, time of cancellation, distance, etc. Tickets reserved at one station can be cancelled at another station. If you have booked over the internet, or using a credit card, the refund will be credited directly to your card.

If you are not in a position to go to the reservation counters you cancel your ticket through the mail also. But I’m not sure if they send money abroad. The best way is to get it refunded directly over the counter. In case you are not in a position to cancel in person, you can deposit the tickets at the nearest major India railway station and obtain a Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR). This can be done upto 30 days after the travel date. Then, an application for the refund needs to be sent to the Chief Commercial Manager-Refunds of the respective railway zone (southern, south-central, eastern, etc) where you have deposited the ticket. You need to attach the passenger’s foil of TDR as well. This can be done within 90 days of your scheduled journey. The format for this refund request and the address to which it has to be sent can be obtained from the station where you have deposited the ticket. You have the options of a Money Order or Crossed Cheque or Station Pay Order (encashable at railway stations).

You can even claim the refund for the unused part of the tickets. Let’s say you met a nice friend on the train and decided to leave the train with her before your final destination. Before getting carried away with your newfound excitement, make sure you go to the TTE/stationmaster and let him know that you are terminating your journey. He’ll scribble something on the ticket, even God doesn’t know what it is, and add his signature. This is the proof that you have terminated your journey midway. At the exit, don’t hand your ticket to the collector. Let her that you terminated journey midway, and that you need the ticket for a refund claim. She’ll verify the ticket and give it you back.For the rest follow the instructions given above.

You’ll receive a cheque long after you have forgotten about this. But I feel happy when I get a cheque when I’m least expecting one!! I’m not sure about tickets booked with a credit card. But in any case, ticket cancellation refunds are refunded to the card account. Generally this takes a little longer time than the conventional system.

If you are not planing to travel it is always better to cancel the ticket before the journey date and collect cash directly. This will save you a lot of money, time and hassle.

Lost ticket will not be refunded. You can get a duplicate for a lost or torn ticket, if you know the the 10 digit PNR and other details. A charge from 10% to 25% is collected based on the distance for the duplicate ticket. However, if you manage to find the original ticket, you can get a refund for the additional money you paid for the duplicate minus a 5% charge! Produce both the tickets at the reservation counter to process this refund.

For cancellation and reservation of tickets the same form can be used.
Tatkal Scheme

The Tatkal scheme is an emergency reservation scheme introduced on most train routes on the India railway system. Indian trains of this type used to be indicated with a T at the end of their train number, but no longer. Tatkal tickets can now be booked up to 5 days in advance not including date of journey, so 6 days’ advance really. These are in all other respects the same express trains with 2 or 3 such special reservation coaches attached to it. Tatkal tickets are only issued for the full length of the train’s journey, though you are still allowed to board the train at an intermediate station, and of course, there are exceptions to the rule.

All the Tatkal (meaning "immediate") tickets come with a premium of approximately Rs. 50.00 to Rs. 200.00 extra, depending on the class, although they can be as high as Rs. 300. You need to produce a photo identity card (passport, drivers license, credit card, etc) at the reservation counter. The same will be asked for inside the train by the TTE. The ID number is noted on the ticket. This is basically to prevent the black-market sale of high demand Indian train tickets. If you are booking the Tatkal for a group of people (max 6 per ticket) any one member’s ID is sufficient. These tickets cannot be cancelled for a refund. The Tatkal system is a boon for emergency passengers.
India Railways - Some Facts

* 63,140 total kilometers covered.
* 8,702 passenger trains.
* 6,856 railway stations.
* 14 million passengers a day.

It is a huge cultural kaleidoscope on the move.... Salute to India railway for the amazing service they provide to the passengers!!