Booking Indian Rail tickets from abroad: A Beginner’s Guide

nedhopkins

You may pick up your tickets in Delhi. As I've noted in reply to other posts, I e-mailed IRCTC and received the following response:

>>Thanks for showing interest in our site,You can collect your ticket from
the same address which is mention by you:
IRCA Building, Counter No. 150, New Delhi Reservation Office, IRCA Building, Chelmsford, Road, New Delhi

>>Regards
>>Himanshu Negi
>>care@irctc.co.in
>>www.irctc.co.in

longdistanceskater

hello all, I booked train tickets on Saturday (11/20), and found there was no option to personally collect the tickets. I called IRCTC and was told to put the Delhi collection office as the address to which to courier my tickets (same address nedhopkins refers to in his posts). Then yesterday (11/22), I got this email:

>Dear Customer,

>Kindly note that the Personal collection centre at Delhi has been closed
>at our end now. So your ticket bearing PNR no. ******** could not be
>dispatched. Kindly provide us the address at Jaipur where this ticket
>needs to be delivered so that we can dispatch this ticket to that
>particular address over there. This mail should come from the same e-mail
>id which you have in your profile with our website and it should also
>contain this PNR no.

So, it sounds like there really is no personal collection option anymore.

drumbrake

Anybody have an update on this situation?

Is the only solution to have the tickets sent to a hotel where I have booked?

nedhopkins

After IRCTC said it is no longer possible to pick up tickets personally, I booked a ticket and asked that it be delivered to my hotel. When I arrived this morning (0330, 11 December), that ticket was waiting for me at the front desk.

I'd ordered two tickets before that notice was posted. Subsequently I'd asked that those tickets also be delivered to my hotel. They hadn't been.

I walked to the Railways Reservation office -- on Chelmsford Rd, about 150 meters south of the New Delhi station -- through the courtyard, into a small entryway, and then into a large room with many ticket booths. My tickets were waiting for me at Booth 150.

Though the tickets had been booked through the high-tech agency of the internet, the operation at the Reservation office was 19th century. My name, transaction number, PNR, and other details had been entered by hand into an old-fashioned ledger. My tickets were in envelopes, the envelopes buried in one of several piles, each held together by a rubber band.

Anyway ... the process was fast and easy. Judging from the number of envelopes in the various piles that the clerk looked at, a whole lot of people are planning to pick their Indian Railways tickets up at that office.


EDIT NOTE - post coppied from another thread. Steven_ber.

goatfarmer

I usually get a travel agent to get my train tickets. Saves time and costs 100 rupees per ticket. Can anyone recommend a travel agent in Calcutta who will do that? I'm flying into Cal/Kol/cutta/kota at around 3.30 pm and want to get on a train straight to Varanasi that night. Any recommendations?

michellemm

Hey folks!!!

Well, I'm going to India in February, 4th. I'll get to Kolkata on Feb, 6th, and need to go to Varanasi on the 7th (at night) by train. But I didn't make any reservations and not planning to do so, is that a problem? Will I be able just to get to the station one day before and buy my tickets for the next day?? (Supposing I want a AC2)

Because I didn't want to pay in advance for these reservations (I'm a little bit afraid to do that)...or can I make them without paying, only paying when I get to the station to get my tickets??

Somebody help me please!!! I'm so confused with all this information!

goatfarmer

"Will I be able just to get to the station one day before and buy my tickets for the next day?? (Supposing I want a AC2)"

Probably yes. If you go to the foreign tourist section of the Howrah Railway Station you will probably get a ticket. I have done that many times. (Now I prefer to pay someone else to do it.}

I am trying to arrange something in advance because I don't want to stay in Calcutta. My plane arrives at 3.30 pm and I want to get on a train same night. And I only have a week for this little trip. No time to waste. I am following a lead that says that Indrail pass for half a day can be purchased overseas and with booking. Let's see what transpires.

michellemm

So, you think I'd have no problems doing that??

How did you arrange someone else to do that for you?? Is it much more expensive?

goatfarmer

Depends what sort of problems you are anticipating. You take a risk. Maybe have to wait a day or two. I have not arranged tickets outside India. Still trying.

michellemm

All right, goatfarmer, thanks!

And good luck!

Roscoe

I'm planning on spending April and May travelling in India, using the trains as often as possible for medium to long distances. However, our itenerary is very open, it's basically a list of locations within a time frame as flexible as rubber band. Im expecting to know the specifics of the travel no more than one or two destinations in advance. My question is this, if I don't know which train to take until I get to the town, and don't know where I'm staying ahead of time, can I count on getting 2nd non AC or 2nd sleeper classes by going to the station for a ticket? I was thinking that if we were in a city for a few days we could go to the station on the first day and reserve a ticket for a few days later, but would it be faster to just hit an internet cafe and reserve online for picklup at the station? Sorry for any redundancy in the post, but the rail system seems more complicated to me every day.

goatfarmer

Definitely the way to go. Maybe even wait for the second day. See how you like the place. If budget permits, use a local travel agent to get your tickets. Save hassling at the station.

goatfarmer

Must have been one of the other threads. But it's relevant here.
I followed the invitation of kalrap@yahoo.com, who has offered to arrange tickets before my arrival in India.

I got this reply:

Sure

pls provide all details , such as Names , age class of
travel and preffered train to our email --
mail@redtreetravels.com

Cheers

I have followed his instructions. Let's see if anything comes of it. It would be a great help for those of us who want to arrive in a city other than Delhi and leave within a few hours.

goatfarmer

Redtreetravels can make the booking. But they want double the price of a 2AC fare from Calcutta to Varanasi. Might be worth it for the certainty of a ticket. Hmmm......

goatfarmer

Well folks,

I have to confess that I copped out and opted for a night in Calcutta. Made a reservation at the Fairlawn. (Let's see if I can "make the connection" *:d)

I then made an internet train booking to Varanasi for the following night. It was a piece of cake. The whole thing done in a few minutes. AMAZING!

I now have to fax a letter authorizing collection to the hotel. Anyone done this? Do I need to attach a copy of my passport?


* see the fairlawn hotel website for this cryptic reference http://www.fairlawnhotel.com