Boarding Train at different station, but same ticket

So, there is no way I can book from an earlier station where there is availability but board the train in LKO?

If it falls in the same Quota allocation then it might be possible, even then you have to approach the PRS 2 days in advance indicating a change in boarding place.

Not 100% sure if this is the case, but normally should be the case.

thanks aarosh.

How do I find out if it is the same Quota?
Since there is a discrepancy in avalability from ex HWh and ex LKO, surely that would indicate separate quotas. Or am I missing something here?

I think you will have to try a few combinations of boarding point to see if there is any change in the availabilty of seats.

So, aarosh, I'm facing the same situation and would like to know whether I can book for Delhi to Aurangabad, when actually I only want Jhansi to Aurangabad?

For info, there's only a few seats ever available in 2A/3A on the overnight train from JHS and we need to catch it on a particular day. There are plenty of seats from Delhi. Bearing in mind that I'm in England I won't be awake when the bookings open for the day I want.

I'm more than happy to pay the full fare, I just want to make sure I've got seats on the train.

OT your situation is the same as mahajanvikas. I think when quota allocation differs it becomes difficult to change boarding point.

However there are 4 FTQ seats in 2A and 3A in Karnataka and Goa Express from Jhansi to Bhusaval. As you already know these can be booked in person when you are in India.

Aarosh, can the FTQ tickets be booked in LKO?
Is there a time-limit how much in advance or how late they can be booked from the date of travel?
Can an overseas GSA of Indian Railways book these?, because I know they sell the Indrail passes atleast.

In the train that you have booked 13005 there is no FTQ. For FTQ the tickets need to be booked in person with the valid documents. FTQ tickets can be booked from the stations mentioned in this link http://www.indianrail.gov.in/international_Tourist.html

Train 14649 still has 2 seats in 2A as of now.

The location based quotas are there for a reason - allow railways to maximise occupancy and revenue while at the same time ensure that travellers enroute are not denied availability. The starting point has the largest quota in most cases.

Trying to skirt around this by booking from a place and boarding at another is in most cases not allowed and futile. If this was allowed then not many will have a waitlisted ticket, but the trains will travel a good part of its journey empty. That is the reason there is a separate boarding point and quota used is based on Boarding point. The TTE will not hold a seat if you don't show up at or close to the boarding point and the ticketing system will not issue a ticket on the basis of the station from where you are paying for the ticket.

The simple way to deal with this is to choose trains that have originating and destinations points as close to the stations that you intend to travel. That will get you in the GN quota which happens to be the largest.

FTQ can not be booked online at the moment. GSA abroad also cannot book it. Lucknow doesn't have a FT counter.

Thanks. Very nicely written and explained.

Yeah, thanks for the explanation and help narendra and arrosh.

I don't really want to buck the system but I just want to get my family from Jhansi to Aurangabad on a particular day. On reflection I'll try to book the train I want and if I fail I'll book a day time one to Bhusaval or Jalgaon.

I guess that if I fail to get the tickets I want then when I arrive in India I can try to get FTQ tickets and if I succeed cancel my others. Maybe this option would work for you mahajanvikas.

OceanTragic, I arrive at 00:45 into DEL and catch the 05:30 flight to LKO and then depart same/next day LKO-JUC. And LKO does not have FTQ booking facility, so I think FTQ is not really an option for me. But thanks for suggesting.

While I appreciate your views on abusing the syatem, I feel even if the train was running empty on a certain section, Indian Railways would still be getting the same revenue as it would if it was full, because the passanger pays the fare from the booking station and not boarding station. Also the Reservation rules on the indrail.gov.in website clearly state that change of boarding point is perfectly allowed (obiously it is there to be used in genuine cases and not to be abused). My point is that booking and boarding from different points, even though they fall under different quotas is very much legal and allaowed.

Maybe somebody can help me on this.

Is it possible to go to the PRS and request a change f boarding point even when your current ticket situatio is WL?
If possible, in that scenario, does the quota of the boarding point takes over and WL status changes or the existing WL number stays?

The point is Railways would look for a judicious mix of revenue thru ticketing and actual occupancy rather than assumed occupancy. Of course change of booking point is legal and allowed, either while booking or later. If you do choose a different boarding point during booking, you cannot change it later, but if you ask for change later, you can do it just once.

You can visit a PRS and request change of Boarding point. The quota/status of ticket doesn't change at all in this case.