Booking rail tickets from abroad- a Beginner's Guide

machadinha

I don't know; there are trains that have a (far) more limited booking date yes.

And then you wanting to book from A but boarding at B would seem to me to be complicated, and by all accounts it is. I've never tried it yet though.

I'd have expected someone like Steve to be able to inform you of either restriction though; then again remember he too may just be busy and overlooking this query.

If all else is going swell, just not this ride; then, well, maybe you will just have to look into it in your place of landing (or as soon as you can along your route), or try your luck and/or find some alternative means of transport? Kochi-Goa is a bit of a ride, but it's not cross-country either.

Let's see, I did Kochi-Mysore earlier this year, and so crossing the mountains and over probably not the fastest of routes, in some 10 hours by night I think on a luxury state bus. Not the greatest of rides, but, well, doable. Goa would probably be about twice as far; but following the coast, you should hopefully move faster. Could call for a stop along the way though. Maybe Mangalore?

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steven_ber

I assume (from your other posts) that it's just paying for this ticket that's the problem, if there were any advance reservation period restrictions then you wouldn't get near the payment page, anyway, 15 people have already booked in 2A.

So, just keep trying.

Just a thought, how many tickets have you booked online so far?

(Donna and Neil travelling Madurai to Trivandrum by direct train would be 1 ticket)

The limit is 10 per month I think.

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Donna and Neil

Yes it's just paying for the ticket that's the problem. We have only booked one other ticket.

We have tried 15 times now to book the tickets with the same error messages so that's why we thought we were missing something.

If we were to just book from Trivandrum, what would be the latest time we could turn up to Ernakulam station to change the boarding station...as a last resort we may have to do this.

Just tried again and got the same error message

steven_ber

Why Trivandrum? (to book)

Where do you land in India?

You can book from anywhere in India, and you can change the boarding station as you book, you pay for a ticket from Trivandrum to Madgaon, and you select your reservation from Ernakulam Jn and up to Madgaon.

Understanding Reservation Forms.

By the way, what beach in Goa? (Karwar is quicker if going to a south Goa beach in Palolem (or near by).

If in one of the big Indian cities, you can also book this train using the foreign tourist quota (if still available).

Donna and Neil

Trivandrum because on this train you and others have said that it doesn't allow intermediate station bookings you have to book from the station of origin and then select the boarding station on the booking page. What you describe is what we are trying to do, pay for a ticket from Trivandrum to Madgaon and selecting reservation from Ernakulam but it doesn't work when it comes to payment and we get the error message below.

We land in Kochi at 16:30 on 8th December and wanted to get the train at 22:30 from Ernakulam, this is why we chose this train. We doubt any tourist quota tickets will still be available.

We really don't know what is going wrong, we aren't ticking the compact accommodation or 'only book if...' boxes and we know we should be able to book but can't.

The reservation as per your requested details could not be processed due to one of the following reasons

1.Communication Failure.
2.Berth Allocation could not be met.
3.Compact Accommodation Request not met.
4.Opening day booking (90 days in advance/ less than 90 days in advance for some trains) is not permitted before 08.00 A.M.

steven_ber

Oh, I read that line too quickly and thought you were going to buy your ticket in Trivandrum, then go to Ernakulam Jn station to change the boarding station.

There would be no point booking the train from Trivandrum station and hoping to change the boarding station in Ernakulam, the reservation chart will already be prepared by the time you get to Ernakulam station.

Here's an alternative option......

Train 6336 departs Ernakulam Town (known as Ernakulam 'North') station on the 8th at 20:00 and gets to Madgaon at about 10:30 the following day (calling at Cancona about 45 minutes earlier), if you book this train from ERN to ADI (Ahmedabad) is will cost Rs 1892 in 2A or Rs 1371 in 3A, there is availability in 2A and 3A.

If you're worried about the timings, or simply would prefer not to go into Ernakulam, book 6336 from Aluva (may be called Alwaye, station code AWY), it's much closer to the airport and the train departs there at 20:20.

You have to book till ADI because of booking restrictions.

Donna and Neil

OK, well that's an alternative option for us, thanks a lot Steven. We don't really want to stay over in Ernakulam on the night we arrive as we are doing this for our flight out at the end!

So do you think this is a website glitch with the #2431 train, I have e-mailed IRCTC again to see if they can see what is wrong because other people have said they booked the same train on different dates with different boarding stations?

steven_ber

No, I doub't there's anything wrong with the website, sadly, it's always been that way, and when it's bad, it's really hit & miss as to whether you get your tickets booked.

I'm 99.9% sure it's nothing to do with the changed boarding station, I know so many people who've done this without any problem, it's just a ticket with a different boarding station, nothing complex for the IRCTC server, my guess is still that you're just really unlucky and that persistance will pay in the end.

But just as a back up, book the other train, you only lose a few Rs when you cancel.

Good luck, if I hear a loud cheer, I'll know you've got the tickets.

Donna and Neil

Thanks everyone for the help! Steven, we ended up booking the #6336 from Aluva instead. We'll keep trying with the #2431 but we don't hold out much hope but at least we have got one booked.

Thanks again for all the help, we really appreciate all the know how!!

colorado pradesh

Re: E-Ticket payment

Thanks to all for the great advice. Just wanted to reiterate that as of 10/25/09 paying by American Express seems to be the easiest way to reserve an e-ticket from the USA. I tried numerous other cards, but only Am Ex worked--and they will refuse your first attempt and then give you a call to authorize future purchases. Hope this saves someone time!

arunganpath

Hi Donna & Neil,

I dont know why you dont get - I just tried with my IRCTC login and I got the tickets (39 seats available).

Please check again - you should get them.

Donna and Neil

We received an e-mail from IRCTC which said that although the seats show on the IRCTC site they cannot be booked due to distance restrictions. We presume this means that only bookings to intermediate stations can be made if they match a certain distance of the route.

We are quite glad now we booked the other train.

sarah_wales

UK Credit Cards

I've successfully used HSBC Mastercard and Egg Visa using the AXIS gateway. I tried some other gateways before this and they did not work. Hope this helps anyone who is having problems.

machadinha

That seems most likely yes. Glad you sorted it out by booking the other train

Sama

some advice for American credit cards (don't know if this happens with other cards but....)....

make sure that your banks/credit card companies know that you are trying to book tickets on a foreign website because your cards will be rejected when you try to book tickets. I tried two cards from Bank of America and Barclays Bank and until I called them, they declined the charge. As I was trying to book the first of the three tickets I need, I received emails from both banks saying there was fraudulent activity on my accounts.

my Visa finally went through after I talked the Fraud Dept. -- and as other posters said the AXIS gateway is the best one to use -- and I now have....

TWO CONFIRMED FIRST CLASS TICKETS FROM KOLKATA TO BHUBANESWAR!!!



am looking at the printed E tickets as I type....

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