Agents & the railways

wildmacaw

Recently, I was at the delhi railway station reservation counter booking a ticket to travel to ajmer, it was a last minute buy for the shatabdi. It was also quite early in the morning.

As I entered the reservation counter, I came upon these two men, claiming to be agents & that they could get me tickets, even if no tickets were available. But, I did not listen to them and joined to queue to get the tickets, and invariably did secure the tickets.

But, this got me thinking, weather these "agents" can really secure confirmed tickets in over booked trains?

I have spoken to a couple of people off line and have got varying replies, the most common being that they have access to the magnitude of "quota" tickets, which normally are not part of the general quota.

steven_ber

How well do you know Indian Railway tickets?

I've got used to them and can read them in seconds, good job really as the touts will only let you look at the tickets for a few seconds.

There's many kinds of touts, good, bad and criminal, but every one is trying to make money.

I’ve had a tout take me to a closed ticket window, get the window open, and I’ve been given a genuine ticket in my name for the class and the train I wanted, I had to give him R100 extra, but that’s the only good experience I’ve had.

Some tricks.

"SL means Sleeping car in AC2" is a good one, "but the ticket only cost Rs141" was my reply, "that's the reservation charge" was his answer.

Crafty git I thought, most tourists would fall for it.

Other times the ticket may be for the day before....."that's the date the ticket was purchased" would be the reply.

In my experience (and I often ask to see the ticket, just out of curiosity), you should never purchase a ticket from a tout, the biggest problem will always be the name and age printed on the ticket.

And if there's any doubt about the ticket, the TTE will ask you where you bought it, when, how much you paid for the ticket, and all the answers are on the ticket, he may then ask you for ID in the name of the person on the ticket.

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Wanderer22

On my last trip in 2005, I made use of travel agents a couple of times and had good results. Got the correct tickets and saved a day hassle getting to a station and doing the leg work. I think the extra fee was 100 Rp. While wandering I like to keep my route and schedule flexible so don't usually book tickets very far in advance.

Wonder if anyone uses online booking from internet cafes while in India? I would certainly be a bit (no pun intended)concerned about security of data while using an unknown computer.

This is probably a good time to give a plug to some security software I'll be taking on my next trip. It's called cafeKlysm , look under "Cybercafe Safe"... http://tokezone.net/gate.html

W22

steven_ber

Are you talking about an established agent, one with an office?

I think I used one once, but I know a few people who use them regularly without problems.

Wanderer22

Yes Steven, it was a regular office. I went to them so no touting was involved, even got the proper seniors discount. Was in Arambol at the time and bus/taxi to a station just for a ticket would have been a PITA.

Thanks for all the work you've put into explaining the Indian train system so humans can understand it. Have you ever thought of producing a book? How about calling it India Rail for Dummies......


Wanderer22

steven_ber

It's only the info I wish I knew before I visited India, and there's still a lot more info needed.

Indian Railways makes us all feel like dummies, me included.

The book....never on my own, but someone has an idea, and I'm meeting the person in India to discuss it.

RPG

Going to a travel agent with an established office is one thing, but dealing with people hanging around the ticket office is crazy.