Booking Trains On Irctc

owenr3

Well, I've given up. I've spent ages on here compiling a suitable itinerary for my travels around India but despite several attempts to access the IRCTC website to book my train tickets I just can't seem to open the website. I've spent hours reading all the material on here and other sites on how to book trains online etc and spent some time making sure I find trains to suit our plans but I never expected to have an issue accessing the website but despite several attempts mostly in the mornings I've been unable to access the site. I've been told it could be a problem with my firewall blocking me out or possibly a problem with my BT line but either or these issues could take a while to sort out and I really wanted to get everything sorted before I go. so it looks like I may need to get a tour operator or someone to organise these for me at a small cost. I know exactly what trains I want to book and what times etc. Can anyone recommend someone who can do this for me? It's a bit annoying but I feel I'm left with no option as my internet just doesn't like this website and it freezes even before the website has opened.

Trains to be booked and costs if I'd booked myself online:

Sat 28 Jan 06 2963 Mewar Express H Nizammudin Depart Delhi 1950 Arrive Bharatpur 2306. Cost per person Sleeper 141RP * 2 = 282RP

Tue 31-Jan-06 Overnight 8478 Kalinga Utkal Express Agra Cant (AGC)
1615
Wed 01-Feb-06 Arrive Umaria (UMR) 0615. Cost per person 2AC 1154RP * 2 = 2308RP

Sat 4 Feb 06 Depart Katni 2321 HWH Mumbai Mail 1615 (KTE).
Sun 5 Feb 05 Arrive Mumbai CST 11.25am. Cost per person 1559RP 1AC * 2 = 3118RP

Tues 7 Feb 06 2051 Jan Shatabdi Express Dadar 0530 (DR). Arrive Thivim (THVM) Goa 1232. Cost per person CC = 640RP * 2 = 1280RP

TOTAL COST FOR 4 TRAINS FOR 2 PEOPLE = 6988RP

We decided as it's our first trip in India to try out several different classes of travel to see what we like best etc hence sleeper, cc, 2AC and 1AC all getting tried.

Can anyone therefore recommend someone who can organise these fares on our behalf and what we can expect to pay extra?

Thanks

Lisa

sachin1313

It is not ur fault that u cant book through website of IRCTC. It is the real problem of this website. I am a travel agent and usually book through this website but have to book my own tkts through the train tkt agent for my clients. The charges that usaully are charged for booking are Rs. 50 - 60 per ticket. But I have doubts that any agent will just book the tickets as it is 100% risk for them.

Judi

Don't give up .... just try again, but maybe at different times of the day. It really is 'do-able', it just requires a little patience. Maybe you could try using someone else's computer?

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aadil

Hi Lisa,

Well, you could try using a cyber cafe computer to access the site and see if it works from there if there is a problem with your firewall or internet access at your home computer. Or else it is best to do the bookings once you come to India and try getting it on the Foreign Tourist's Quota if tickets are not available in the trains you want to travel on. One more problem could be the time you are trying to access the reservation process as it is not a 24 hours site and is only accessible at certain working hours in India. So if you are accessing it after the working hours then it does not show anything related to reservations. You could ask some of the travel agents in Delhi if they can book the tickets for you if you pay them in advance by credit card. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Aadil.

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mca2005

are you having problems registering? what problem are you having??

sachin1313

Site only works from 8 am - 11 pm as per Indian Standard time so try between these hours. The best time is from 8 - 9 am.

aadil

>>>> Booking trains from UK I decided to book rail tickets through SD Enterprises as they're recommended in several guide books and on a few internet sites including the Indian Railways website.

Booking trains from UK


Hi Lisa,

Just saw this on one of the threads below yours so I thought you might want to check it out. Steven_ber may be able to help with the addresses in the UK. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Aadil.

mca2005

and you have to register with an INDIAN address - there was some confusion on the IM boards because some people who had registered earlier were able to do this with a non indian address, but the site changed...you can still SELECT your country, but the submit button won't do anything....unless of course, its changed back!

owenr3

Thanks for the replies everyone.

It's not that I can't register, I just can't get into the site at all - it's all a bit strange cos I'm not having difficulties accessing any other websites that I know of. I've been trying every day for the last week to get in usually around 9-11am but have tried different times throughout the day. Nothing.
Don't really have any internet cafes nearby but think I'll try and take a trip to Edinburgh this week and try an internet cafe. Failing that, will contact SD Enterprises as recommended.

Cheers
Lisa

Aussie 5

Hi, are you sure you are enteringthe correct web address. I've just accesssed both the Indian Rail site (with link to internet booking) and the IRCTC site directly.

http://www.indianrail.gov.in
http://www.irctc.co.in

Give it another try - I booked all my rail tickets through irctc - a good service once you understand it.

steven_ber

Train 2060 departs Nizamuddin (not Sundays) at 13:10 and gets to Bharatpur at 15:42. (2S, CC)

The above train is a good option if you can leave Delhi a little earlier.



I suggest you keep trying the website, but, if you decide to contact S. D. Enterprises, let me know before hand, and I'll suggest some ways of reducing the cost (as they only issue period passes).

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How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions.


Train information.


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owenr3

Hi,
I had already contacted SD Enterprises. They have come back and said it will cost us £112 each which is rather expensive when it was only going to cost just over £100 for the two of us booking them myself and I have already done the ground work on what trains I want to book.

I still can't get in, I think it must be some problem with my computer, so I am going to go to Edinburgh on Friday and attempt to register with the site. Do you know if you can register and start booking trains immediately or will I have to wait a couple of days or something for my registration to go through before atttempting to book trains? also does anyone know if the booking office website is open on Saturdays or Monday to Friday only? Thought I'd head over to internet cafe for about 9am to give me a few hours to play with it.

Cheers
Lisa

aadil

It does not take more than a few seconds to register the name on the site. It is open on all days but for a lesser time on Sundays than the other days. Also it is preferable to get someone to book the tickets in India and charge you Rs50 to Rs100 extra per ticket for sleeper class tickets than the huge amount in the UK. If it was something I could do for you from here I would have been glad to help but then you are not even coming in to Mumbai first so that I could hand over the tickets to you if I bought them from here. I will try to check with a travel agent here if it is possible. Let's see how it works out.

Cheers,
Aadil.

owenr3

Hi Aadil

Steve has registerd me on the site so that I can go ahead and just book the train tickets on Friday as I plan to visit an internet cafe am, so this has saved me a bit of time.

Thanks anyway aadil and again thanks for booking my accommodation with the Bandhavgarph Park. I will e-mail you again before I leave for India in early January to make sure my reservation is still OK.

Thanks to everyone for their help with this. This is such a fantastic website.
I'll hopefully be posting at the weekend to tell you all I have successfully booked my first train tickets online!

Lisa

aadil

Hi Lisa,

That's great news and I am sure you will have your tickets booked on your own very soon. Good to know that you like this fantastic website. I just love it too. And it is always a pleasure to help. About your booking for the Bandhavgarh Kum Kum cottages, I will have to book it only in January as they said they will not do the booking right now. Hope this helps.

Cheers,
Aadil.