Easy Guide to Rail Reservations for Tourists in India

How to make an Indian Railways Reservation online? This will be the foremost question in the minds of several people who wish to travel by rail in India during this summer holidays. Yes, it is holiday season and the rush for Indian Railways online booking is on.

Here is a step by step guide to Indian railways reservation process:-

Plan your journey

The first thing is to plan in advance. The reservation is available 60days in advance, excluding the date of journey at the train originating station.

Booking from abroad is a little difficult, if you are totally new to how India, and Indian railway system work. However online seat availability checks and online train ticket booking is available for most of the trains though the Indian Railways website.

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 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 receive these tickets. Possible suggestions for destinations are friends 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 and print the ticket yourself on your home computer. This is a good idea if you have access to a printer and you don’t reallty want to have them couriered elsewhere. It is not possible however to pick up tickets booked online at train stations.

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 accepts 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… This is important if you need to check the PNR Status or if you want to cancel..

A maximum of four online bookings can be made in a month, and each ticket can be for a maximum of six passengers.

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 am till 8:00 pm on weekdays, and 8:00 am to 2:00 pm on Sundays.

You can use credit cards for booking tickets at the reservation counters. Tip: look for the special Credit Card counters at the reservation office (Often queues are shorter here) though you need to pay an additional Rs. 30/- as a service charge.

Checking Seat Availability on the India Railway System

If your ticket is wait listed, you can avail of the interactive voice response system (IVRS) facility to find out the current status as also the train/departure timings by dialing the IVRS telephone numbers. IVRS numbers are as follows for for New Delhi- 1330,1335; Mumbai-2656565: Kolkata- 136,137,138; and Chennai-1361,1362,1363. Indian railways have earmarked universal telephone number 139 for enquiry, throughout India from state owned MTNL/VSNL networks.

‘Tatkal’ Scheme

‘Tatkal’ translated as ‘Priority’ scheme provides a limited number of seats/berths in more than 90 trains. This is available at a small premium of Rs 200/- for AC 2 tier, Rs 150/- for AC 3 tier and Rs 50/- each for chair car and sleeper class. Railways have appointed railway tourist agents (RTAs) and rail traveler’s service agents (RTSAs) in major cities.

To enhance your train travel experience   in India we suggest that you try out homestays which are excellent ways of experiencing the local culture, cuisine and ethos. Another good option is vacation rentals which are good for travelers in group as they provide better space and independence at affordable prices and at really wide variety of awesome locations. We at  The Other Home provide  you choices for the best homestays, vacation rentals, adventure options and a lot more.

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(Guest Author: Deepak Singh)