Booking trains from Australia

Dave & Rose

Hello everyone!

We would like to reserve a total of 9 train journeys for our trip around india in April. I have worked out all the details and tried to use the e-booking service on the web to no avail (it keeps coming back "credit card not authorised" even though no problem with the card).

Here's the thing - is there any other way to book tickets? I'm in Australia staying in hostels so have no address for an indian rail pass to be posted to me. If I wait til I arrive in Mumbai what's the easiest way to book! My first journey is two days after arrival to Ahemadabad. Any advice would be good!

Thanks all.

chris123

Hi..

Good Morning and greetings from John - Mumbai - India.

In case you are not able to book your e-ticket for Ahemadabad from Australia, you can travel to Ahemadabad from Mumbai by bus which takes about 8 hours from Mumbai.

In case of any further assistance, please contact

JuliaF

I can't advise you about e-booking etc, sorry, I've never done it..

But if you decide to leave it till you arrive in Mumbai this is what I would recommend. In CST /VT there is a separate building (on the right as you walk up where the taxis are going) which is the booking office. The foreign tourist counter is upstairs. If you have all the details of the trains you wish to take it should be possible to book them all here. I have found he staff efficient and helpful. You'll need your passport.

This has worked for me but of course you might have to be prepared to make minor changes on dates or class of travel.

And I should add that my experience tends to be not on the more popular tourist routes which might get booked up earlier.

Maybe someone will be along with advice on the e-booking anyway ...

Baba

Hello,

have you tried different Payment Gateways? Citibank (which is back up) works for me. Also some banks seem to block the transaction if it doesn't match your usual spending pattern - if all fails, give them a call or try another card.

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Baba

Aishah

Dave & Rose there have been several threads lately complaining re not taking credit card. Some have, like Baba, had success with Citibank. I tried again this morning but mine is still not going through. There is nothing wrong with card etc. Check with your bank you have it world wide authorised or whatever and if this is the case it is bad luck. It seems to accept some and not others, and I and other posters, have yet to find a reason!
For urgent train booking, I suggest you contact your hotel where you are staying on first arrival and they may be able to help. This has happened with another poster previously. Then the rest of bookings do on arrival in Mumbai.

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"Life can only be understood backwards, but it must be lived forwards."

Mickey S

Do you have another credit card you can use? Even someone else's?

After booking many, many tickets on IRCTC my credit card began being refused with the message "not authorised". My bank said that they had not refused authorisation, and had not even received any requests for authorisation. After several similar refusals I eventually tried another card and it worked fine.

I'd suggest strongly that you do not wait until you arrive in India to book train tickets, and that buses should be used only as a last resort.

norah

A few weeks ago I had reached screaming point with train bookings, but after help from others on IndiaMike I sat down with every piece of information I thought I might need, and lo and behold I had train tickets. I discovered you need to type very quickly and you need your secure code from your bank and never try to go back. I'm now looking forward to my holiday next month. Good luck!
Norah

Dave & Rose

Thank you everyone. No luck still with the credit card. It's not the card and have tried a number of gateways to no avail! No luck with my hotel either - Bentleys - so will have to wait til I get to Mumbai next week!

Aishah

It's annoying isn't it? I have exactly the same problem with my Visa card - tried all Gateways on several occasions and just not working. And like you, nothing wrong with the card. Good Luck for Mumbai!

achivers

After several hours of frustration with different credit cards using the irctc site,I gave up .The irctc site using citibank would not process a Nab mastercard or Anz visa. Kept saying transaction not valid etc But ...I managed to book the train from Jaipur to Kota with thomascook.co.in . The thomas cook site processed thru citibank quite easily using an australian visa card.

Aishah

achivers - did you try the Axis credit card payment gateway. I finally had a result not so long ago with this one. At last, I can book with my card! I know your frustration - as mentioned before I had exactly the same problems. Axis has been recently added, and seems to be good for most.

spike

I think it is to early to book tickets for april. Bookings are only accepted 90 days in advance.
I've always used Axis bank and had no problems with it.

Aishah

Check the dates of the posts, spike! It was April this year, been and gone, and Dave and Rose too I guess (to India I mean)!

spike

mmm, ok, I hope they managed booking, ...
:-)

alouise

I had the same problem as most have already mentioned. Payment locked on visa credit card. Look, I'm still having the problem with my bank "unlocking" it. If and when it happens I'll race to let you know. But in the meantime I've found that AXIS works with Master card - borrow if you have to, it's worth every blissful 2 minute transaction. After so much frustration I went crazy and nabbed 5 tickets - ie. five different journeys - in 10 minutes, just for the buzz of it.... each time recalling pre-IT days of queueing (or something vaguely resembling it) at stations, and rejoicing "never again". Ah the excitement, could easily get carried away!