AC1 or FC in August in Southern India?

Hello,

I will be travelling from Cochin to Chennai in the beginning of August.

I am not sure about which class to book, I prefer having a lockable compartment so the choice is between AC1 and FC.

Is AC needed at this time of the year on this route?
Can the compartment be locked from outside when leaving it?
A more or less clean toilet is important to me, are the toilets in AC1 in better condition than in FC, can I use the AC1 toilet?

Is it possible to open the window in FC, this would be an advantage.

Thank you so much for your advice!

The choice may not be there for you to make, as FC is very rarely available now.
The compartment cannot be locked from outside.
It may be possible to venture into the AC1 loo.

Thank you Indizen,
FC is available on this train.

you can consider taking a flight.

Toilet and carriage condition are a lot better in 1A.

However, 1A has that slight isolated (from India) feeling, whereas FC feels great and is just a fantastic way to travel.

1A is considerably more expensive than FC, but if I was given free tickets to travel, I'd choose FC every time.

But, I'm really not concerned at carriage/toilet conditions.

While on the subjects of trains... I have read around the issues of booking and so on. However I am not really sure on many things.

For example. I will be in Delhi mid June and will want to get to Kolkata a week after arriving by train. I do not know the exact date so can I book a train say AC2 at the station a few days before travelling?

What is the tourist or foreign quota and will this help?

So many questions...

Tnx

You could try reading this thread

http://www.indiamike.com/india/india...012-a-t165379/

Foreign Tourist Quota is probably your only chance of booking a Delhi-Kolkata ticket at that sort of notice.

Hey Dave thanks for the advice, and have read your posts on booking etc..

One last question... maybe last. If say I go along to station in Delhi would you imagine that I could book a seat/berth for a Kolkata train 5 - 6 days from then, as in a week in advance? AC2 AC3 preferably.

Again, thanks for advice
Rich

If you are relying on FTQ only, be aware that since the numbers are very small, any other tourist ahead of you can book that & you are back to WL in General category. If you are very flexible with dates, this might work, but otherwise, it is always to better to book as early as possible.

elbongo

I agree with paramiyer. This link shows all of the FTQ allocation on Delhi-Kolkata trains. Move your curser over the numbers highlighted in green to see the number of seats available in each class.

http://indiarailinfo.com/search/664/...5097000&full=0

This link shows the availability 5 days from now - still quite good.

http://indiarailinfo.com/search/664/...5338289&full=0

Tnx buddies, although I'm still pretty lost with it all

Also indiarailinfo keeps trying to install 'Latest versions of whatever browser I use... something afoot I feel

Thanks again!!