Indian Rail Online Booking Pointers

I was asked to book a few tickets and found the certain pointers that might be handy for you guys:

Being Manan said:
A very brief over view and points to remember:

Booking timings - 5:00 AM to 11:30 PM.

Tatkal booking after 8:00 AM.

Login at irctc.co.in.

Search the stations from the button.

Online PNR number based status checking timing - 4:00 AM to 11:30 PM.

To check the Status of a ticket, visit traininquiry.com.

A more descriptive & decorated post with screen shots: Indian Rail Online Booking Pointers

Yes you are right. Railway sites and services are a bit good than it was earlier and its increasing day by day.

Waitlisted e-tickets for all trains

To make ticket booking using the Internet more convenient, the Railway Ministry has extended the facility of passengers getting waitlisted e-tickets on all trains.

“We have allowed booking waitlisted tickets on all trains from May 10,” said a senior Railway official.

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a public sector undertaking under the Ministry, offers the service on its website www.irctc.co.in.

Initially, the facility was for booking only confirmed e-tickets. Booking of waitlisted tickets on a few trains was started on a pilot basis.

The official said that since the launch of the service on May 10, there was a very good response. “Already, the IRCTC has been booking around 15,000 waitlisted e-tickets a day.”

After the chart is prepared, the waitlisted e-ticket may either become a fully confirmed ticket, a reservation against cancellation (RAC) ticket or might still remain fully waitlisted.

In the first two cases, the names of passengers would appear on the chart and they would be allowed to travel in accordance with reservation rules. Names of passengers holding tickets that remain waitlisted would not appear on the reservation chart and they would not be allowed to board the train.

For waitlisted e-tickets, customers need not apply to the IRCTC for cancellation and refund. Their tickets would be cancelled online and refund credited to their accounts automatically, the official said.

*www.thehindu.com/2008/05/20/stories/2008052050731100.htm

Good and simple.. useful especially for first time bookers..
I would like to add one point though. If you want to book tatkal, you have to login into the site after 8.00 AM. There’s no point logging in at 7.45 and opening the necessary page, etc. because all you’ll get is an error message. So remember to login after 8.00AM only for tatkal booking..

And to clarify the doubt between e ticket and i ticket:
E-ticket is one which you need to take a print out of, and carry along with your photo id proof. Can be booked upto even a few hours before train departure, ideally before the chart preparation.

I ticket is the routine ticket which you get at the railway station counters. This ticket will be delivered to your home address. No id proof is required. You can book this only upto three days before the journey date. That is, if the train is on 5th, you can book upto 2nd.

Hope that was clear.

just wanted to stress on this point -

After the chart is prepared, the waitlisted e-ticket may either become a fully confirmed ticket, a reservation against cancellation (RAC) ticket or might still remain fully waitlisted.

In the first two cases, the names of passengers would appear on the chart and they would be allowed to travel in accordance with reservation rules. Names of passengers holding tickets that remain waitlisted would not appear on the reservation chart.

For waitlisted e-tickets, customers need not apply to the IRCTC for cancellation and refund. Their tickets would be cancelled online and refund credited to their accounts automatically, the official said.They are not allowed to board the train. If detected traveling in the train, they shall be treated as passenger traveling without ticket as per extant Railway Rules.

so if you want to take a waiting ticket which you are sure will not be confirmed then do not take an online ticket for that as it will get canceled, instead go to the railway reservation counter and get the waiting ticket from there.with this waiting ticket you can at least board the train.
this might be useful for people who have to travel urgently and during daytime because with the waiting ticket u can board the train and since it is daytime journey u don't really need a birth and other passengers will also be sitting.
happy journey

....

tango_cash said:
..... since it is daytime journey u don't really need a birth and other passengers will also be sitting.
happy journey....

You mean berth I presume

*s269.photobucket.com/albums/jj44/visio159/Unismilies/38large.png

Anyway, another important thing is to carry the same ID that you declared at the time of making the reservation online, else you'll find yourself in hot water.

^^ True & thanks to tango_cash for the inputs.

Just one question-

How safe is it, regarding Debit/Credit card ?

I am pathologically wary of everything that has anything - howsoever remote - to do with Government.

I do transactions under the presumption that it is very safe.

karnivore said:
Just one question-

How safe is it, regarding Debit/Credit card ?

I am pathologically wary of everything that has anything - howsoever remote - to do with Government.

As safe (or as risky) as using the cards in any other online service!

^^ Appreciate it.

From their FAQ

Q8 said:
Q. Is it safe to give the credit card number at this site?

A. This is a VeriSign certified site (Click on the VeriSign logo to see the certificate). All the monetary transactions made on this site are secure. The credit card details are received on the site and transmitted to the Payment Gateways through secure SSL mode under 128-bit browser independent encryption. This site does not store or record the credit card details. All the transactions are handled directly by Payment Gateways only.

NucleusKore said:
Anyway, another important thing is to carry the same ID that you declared at the time of making the reservation online, else you'll find yourself in hot water.

iMav said:
^^ True & thanks to tango_cash for the inputs.

This is not necessary anymore..

Rail passengers can now carry any one proof of identification
NEW DELHI, OCTOBER 9 : In a move aimed to popularise e-tickets, the Indian Railways has decided to dispense with a provision that requires passengers to specify at the time of booking the proof of identification they intend to carry during the journey.

Now, a passenger booked on an e-ticket will have the choice of carrying any of the five original ID cards — voter identity card, passport, PAN card, a driving licence or photo identity cards issued by the central or state Government.

Sources: 1, 2, 3

by the way, the time of 8AM for tatkal tickets is only on the opening day (that is, 5 days prior to the the journey). From then til the chart is prepared, tatkal tickets can be booked at any time during the normal booking hours. Just thought this would help someone who hasn't dealt with tatkal before. I had to book my ticket for the 25th in tatkal and the site was down from 7:58AM on the 20th. It finally started working at around 12:30 and all the tickets were gone! however, the site worked the next day at 8AM.

@karnivore
You dont have to worry about it as long as you are booking tickets from your home desktop and not a cyber cafe. You know why...

It is really safe otherwise, my friends use it practically every month

Some good developments in online ticket booking....:
Well you can now book your ticket from cleartrip.com as well. they will charge just Rs 10 extra. But the user interface is much better here.
Beside, i guess indianrail.gov.in and irctc.co.in use seprate database. coz my train LTT hatia express is not listed on indianrailway site, but i always book it from irctc.co.in .
And its really a blessing in error for me... as this is the very reason that this train is not booked so early.
i presume there might be some more error like this.

WOW! This thread is still alive! Thanks for the updates guys.

hey guys that service is great i purchase every year tickets for Rs30 to 40000. and there is no problem. and for the security always follow the rules and change trhe pin of your card after purchasing online anything.

T

Plz tell me one thing...
Do they charge anything extra as processing fee or just the amount of the tickets?
Do debit card and bank transfer works?
Like Tatkal do the booking on the opening day also starts from 8 am or from 5 am?

techani said:
Plz tell me one thing...
Do they charge anything extra as processing fee or just the amount of the tickets?

I think there are taxes, been some time I bought a ticket.

techani said:
Like Tatkal do the booking on the opening day also starts from 8 am or from 5 am?

As stated:

Booking timings - 5:00 AM to 11:30 PM.
Tatkal booking after 8:00 AM.

M

techani said:
Plz tell me one thing...
Do they charge anything extra as processing fee or just the amount of the tickets?
Do debit card and bank transfer works?
Like Tatkal do the booking on the opening day also starts from 8 am or from 5 am?

I regularly purchase by debit or internet banking of axis bank and also by axis bank credit card.

For online banking and debit card of Axis bank:

*Charges of Rs. 10 plus taxes are applicable per transaction

For axis bank credit card:

Rs.30/- + 1.8% of total amount.

Charges differ for different banks.Check your bank's website for details.

T

Thanks... that means people buying tickets during rush season will have a great advantage coz of that early start of booking time.

M

Even during off-peak season it saves time, one thing which matters big.

iMav said:
I think there are taxes, been some time I bought a ticket.
As stated:

Booking timings - 5:00 AM to 11:30 PM.

Tatkal booking after 8:00 AM.

Tatkal bookings should start from 8.00 AM, but, online tatkal starts from 5.00 AM itself. A major flaw in the design of the site. An advantage to those booking online.

Had a bitter experience two months ago. There were 56 tatkal seats available in the train at 11 PM. The next day morning, when I checked at 6:00 AM, it was reduced to 9. I reached the counter sharp at 8:00 AM only to find that there were none available.

^^ Well, I did try it & apparently it didn't work for me back then.

A

Can anyone of you specify the additional charges applicable when using a SBI card for making the transactions.

aura said:
Can anyone of you specify the additional charges applicable when using a SBI card for making the transactions.

5/- i guess

as far as my experience is in buying tickets through irtc. one should not try to buys tatkal tickets through net most of time its shown unavailable.....so most of time i go to the station and buy if i have to go for tatkal and guess wat i always get it..... but have to wake up erly around 7 and wait for the counter to open on 8.

is there any option to do bulk booking.? i.e Consider a marriage function or something and i need to take tickets for about 50 ppl. I just know the count in exact and not the name and especially the AGE of the passengers. Like instead of my aunt my uncle wishes to come etc.! So i need to do a bulk booking in which i can take any 50 ppl with me. Does irctc provide option for this.?