Booking rail tickets from abroad- a Beginner's Guide

elduderino

Right....great..Thanks again

manishok

Is there a certain time when you are allowed to purcahse tickets. I've purcahsed tickets before but today (Sat at 15.45 UK time) it wasn't allowing me to book online.

machadinha

Tickets normally (not all of them) go on sale 60 days ahead (I think...? There's been some goofing around with this. I think it's sixty though.)

Note for popular routes and at popular times, this means they may get sold out quickly after that. Seats may or may not then start opening up again close to departure, as people will cancel unwanted tickets.

More mundanely though, the booking site seems to go to sleep at times during the Indian night. I've also been told they do this on Sundays, to recalibrate the entire system. (Making it difficult to get a booking on the ground on Sundays, not always very convenient.)

So just for now, you may just need to check again in a few hours. Beyond the above and like with any site, the server will go through its glitches of course. It may pay to try and access it at times that won't be very busy in India; so early mornings or late evenings (or presumably lunch breaks) there.

For international times, kindly check here for instance: http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/ .

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elduderino

Hi - I think the site is down at certain times of the day. I've managed tp get tickets in the morning till noon time in the uk.

YOu can book up to 90 days in advance.

girlfromvenus

I now have booked myself a ticket from Villuparam to Madurai and another one from Madurai to Varkala. After having read here I really thought it will be troublesome, but actually it was a matter of 5 minutes

And because Stephen Ber is always suggesting FC, I followed his advice, intuitively knowing that it was the right decision.

indracal

Please note that www.makemytrip.com is now an authorised agent of IRCTC for booking IR tickets online.

I gave the options a look and I felt that the available search options are good compared to IRCTC. E.g. you could search all classes instead of a specific class (as in IRCTC website) if you select a checkbox while starting the search.

Based on the available options, which shows the fares of different trains in that route in different classes, you may look up the availability of a specific train that you need.

There might be a difference how MMT spells a station name and how IRCTC does. I found MMT could not found "Brahmapur", but when I gave BAM, it showed BERHAMPUR as the station. So it may be a good idea to have the station code handy.

In the fare breakup, it showed that there is IRCTC charge of 25/- (2 Adults, 3AC), and MMT charges were zero. Not sure if that's the initial offer or IRCTC charge includes their cut (like other auth. agents).

It also gives you an option for a round trip, where you can book both-way tickets as a single transaction!

The most interesting to me was the alerts options: SMS alerts, mail alerts on events like a availibility scenario, booking status alerts etc.

The IR stalwarts of IM can have a look and provide their feedback for the less-initiated ones - this may be a good option for users from abroad as MMT has US and UAE specific sites as well.

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USAmbuya

This is all very helpful, thank you...but online it says you can get an "E" ticket. Are you saying this is NOT enough to get on the train? Thanks!

Aishah

A confirmed E ticket is enough to get on a train. If it is WL (waitlisted) you can only get on the train if the WL status is changed to confirmed - this could even be in the last couple of hours before the train arrives. On your E ticket there will be a PNR (Passenger) No. Via the internet you can check your PNR No. and see what status you ticket is if you have bought a WL one.

Personally I would never buy a WL ticket - I would look around for another train on same day, change my date or whatever to only buy a confirmed ticket. However, this is not the case of all - if you look in the threads for this Forum (Indian Railways) you will find one towards the top of the list (a sticky) which gives information in regard to WL tickets and whether they will be confirmed or not. Sometimes the chances are good, sometimes not.

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machadinha

I think also that entire original post (of this thread; now thankfully deleted as a quote) Ambuya is referring to dates to early 2004.

So while it still makes for a good introduction, there have been many developments since. That whole electronic business wasn't so clear-cut back then.

So, kindly read up here on developments since; I realize this has grown to be a lengthy thread, but many of them will be covered within it even.

sergif

Hi to everybody:

silly questions from my side:

1. Being a foreigner: Do I need tickets from tourist quota? (I guess no)
2. So, which is the purpose of tourist tickets?
3. E-ticket printed (and ID) is enough to travel (no visits to CS station in Mumbai needed?)

thanks to everybody

Aishah

Answers for you sergif:

1. No - but if there are no tickets available at the time of your booking, you might avail the tourist quota from a city railway station where there is a foreigner travel bureau/counter for booking.

2. Tourist tickets are set aside for tourists only - and read the above no 1!

3. Yes - you are correct - you only need printed out E-ticket plus some identification for yourself (passport etc.)

sergif

And my last stupid question: IS it no way to for example book 6 tickets in th same section of the same carriage in 3-tier class? I mean, 6 who are travelling together? Is this only happening by chance?

I have only travelled with tourist quota, and in this case as you buy it directly they give to you seats (berths) in the same section, but what about buying them from abroad?

Thanks

machadinha

If you book them all in one go, they should be allotted as closely to one another as possible.

lozza_84

I'm in the UK and I needed to book a train from Mumbai to Kundapur. I read all the information on IM and embarked on booking my first Indian train ticket with a lot of trepidation. To my surprise, it all went ridiculously smoothly. I entered all my details and preferences and paid with a visa debit using the CITI bank portal and the payment went through straight away. The only minor complaint is that I requested a lower berth but appear to have been assigned an upper berth, but I can live with that. Of course, because this went so well, I now have paranoia that I've done something wrong.....

I booked 2AC on the Matsyagandha express from Lokmanyatilak to Kundapura. My status is CONFIRMED and my booking is for A1/0026/UB (I'm assuming this means I'm in seat 26, an upper berth in coach A1, am I right?)

Can some kind soul please put my paranoid mind at rest and assure me I've been successful. Many thanks! :-)

rajered

Yes you have got a confirmed ticket, seat & berth 26 in coach A1. Have you booked an E-Ticket? If yes carry a print out of the E-Ticket and keep a photo-id proof while travelling.