Buying Tickets for booked trains from Travel Agents in Delhi

Hi All,

Sorry to start a new thread on this but have been browsing for a good day now and while I found plenty of information there are one or two things I couldn't find any answers to so I hope you'll be able to help me.

I want to travel from Delhi to Kathmandu on the 19th of November taking the train (either to Gorakhpur or Varanasi) and then bus to Kathmandu route. Unfortunately it appears I left my booking too late as all the trains to both stations from Delhi have really long waiting lists (in all classes). I've booked four different tickets anyway and so for the moment I'm just going to wait and hope for the best, although I'm not very optimistic about getting a seat.

However, I've been told by some friends who've been to Delhi before (this is my first time in the North) that train tickets can easily be bought from travel agents very close to the desired date of travel (I'll be in Delhi from the 17th). A friend of a friend (not the most reliable source I know ) reports that he was able to buy a 1AC ticket from a travel agent for a train travelling to Kathmandu the next day for approximately 500Rs more than the regular fare.

I was a bit sceptical at first but on reading the way the waitlist system works it makes sense that travel agents might bulk buy tickets in advance and try to sell them for profit seeing as they can have them refunded so easily if they don't sell. But it also sounds like an easy way to get stung.

So I was just wondering if anyone else has done this in Delhi i.e. bought a train ticket for a train that was fully booked elsewhere, from a travel agent? Or has anyone had any bad experiences doing this?

If you have done it any information or things to look out for/ places to buy / what class u are likely to get / was there a mark up / how long beforeyour train travel did you buy etc. would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

there is a option called tatkal in railway where a person can book a ticket two day before departure of train but you have to be at ticket window at 07.15am to get tatkal ticket because service start at 8.00 am sharp (suppose for 3rd December travel .tatkal option open on 1st december at 8.00 am ) also there is a quota called foreign tourist quota and one can avail this .please contact station master or there is a special counter for this in big station

@grainneo: One advise: Stay away from touts or agents or whatever name you can call them. As varun has mentioned, use your Non Indian passport first to try and get reservation under the Foreign Tourist Quota or FTQ, then if this fails use Tatkal two days before train departure from the originating station. My view is, with everyone booking online tickets, FTQ tickets which can only be booked at the tourist window are not getting booked and are being released to the general public atleast in some trains all the time.

So put that passport to some use.

^^ As advised above, avail a foreign quota or tatkal.

One word of Caution: Do not buy tickets from any agents who ask you to pay extra charges(more than the officially accepted rates) and/or provide you tickets booked under someone else's name ;or ask you to impersonate as someone else in front of the TTE during the journey. These things are illegal & severe actions might be taken against you if caught.

Thanks for all the advice guys, I'll definitely check out the tourist quota situation as soon as I arrive. I'm just arriving in Delhi on the 17th so I probably won't be able to get taktal for the 19th but i'll definitely look for it as a last resort for the 20th if nothing else comes through.. Nothing is ever simple in India!

Why don't you book train tickets in advance from home thru sites like cleartrip or others?

No hassle, no fees, no touts. Thats infinitely more convinient than having to make other not so comfortable adjustments or arrangements.

Quite a few things are not simple here, but most are just different, not difficult if you plan it out a bit.

Have a nice trip.

<Cross-posted. Narendra, the person says all trains are waitlisted & they've already bought four such tickets though.>

Be aware the foreign quota only applies to some trains on some stretches.

My bet would be it will exist to Varanasi; to Gorakhpur, not so sure. In Delhi, head to the Railways' International Tourist Bureau (directions: http://www.indianrailways.gov.in/ind...u/guideloc.jsp) and see what they can do for you.

It's possible to bus it from Delhi to Kathmandu I'm quite sure. Wouldn't be my cup of tea, but if you have to... (Delhi-Sunauli alone by bus is said to take 36 hours! To Kathmandu, then another 9-12 hours.) I believe these buses leave from the ISBT stand, by Kashmiri Gate, a little to the north of Old Delhi; but ask on the ground, by all means.

You should be careful not to buy some ticket that isn't in fact in your name yes, you may get fined or thrown off the train; or at least find yourself without a seat, no doubt. Certainly Delhi would have a bad name for such schemes.

That doesn't mean agents may not have some legit creative schemes going on, but so be careful what you do. If you're not sure about what's going on, assume it isn't legit.

Sorry. Hadn't looked at the first post again before posting again.