correct name for Shimla's train station?

Hi, all. I am trying to book a ticket from Delhi to Shimla. My Lonely Planet doesn't give any other name for Shimla or any other name for its train station. However, "Shimla" is not a recognized train station name. I see how I can book the Himalayan Queen from Delhi to Kalka, but not how to link up to the service from Kalka up to Shimla, as my LP advises. Any advice appreciated! Also, I'm currently in Pondicherry; not sure if a travel agent would do bookings for any ticket anywhere in India. Also, I haven't seen a way to choose a train by name or number on the irctc.co.in website. So far I've only used the "plan my travel" button to buy tickets.

Simla (without the H might be it)

You can take the 730 Kalka Shatabdi from Delhi which gets to Kalka at 12 PM or alternatively the Himalayan Queen which leaves at 5:55 and gets there at 11: 20.

From Kalka the toy train follows the following timings :-

KLK SML PASS AVL KLK 04.00 SML 09.15
SHIVALK DLX EXP AVL KLK 05.30 SML 10.15
KALKA SIMLA EXP AVL KLK 06.00 SML 11.00
HIMALYAN QUEEN AVL KLK 12.10 SML 17.20

Yes, it's Simla, and as indicated by Puchoo, its station code is SML.

Confusing, isn't it, all those possible spelling variations

I don't know about agents, but at any train station (well, provided they're connected to the main booking system, that is excluding the really minor stations) you can book a train ticket for any other stretch yes.

thanks, y'all! any ideas for ooty/udhagamandalam? i tried looking on the indian rail site in addition to the irctc.co.in but couldn't figure out the answer.

augh! and bengaluru/bangalore? i have been booking trains nonstop for a week without encountering all these stations i can't find!

Try http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...tions_in_India ; caution: massive page, slow-loading. (Wikipedia itself can be handy to check for possible spelling variations btw, just look up any city there.)

Ooty = Udagamandalam (station code: UAM). (I.e., try spelling the town name minus your H, although the latter does in fact seem to be the more common spelling, or should we say transcription.)

I'm not sure why you couldn't find Bangalore; like many major Indian cities it has several stations. What I can find in a hurry is Bangalore Cantonment (BNC), Bangalore City Junction (SBC) and Bangalore East (BNCE). There may be others not featuring the name "Bangalore" at all.

Using any of those trains sites it pays to not panic and just think of any possible variations you can come up with; most I know of allow you to search for e.g. the first three letters of any city, so you can toggle those around a bit to see if it works.

which one? erail?

btw Note that for Ooty (short for Ootacamund btw, apparently also known in abbreviated form as Udhagai...), there's only the toy train going up there. This departs from Metupalaiyam (MTP; often spelled as Mettupalayam and variations no doubt) and goes over Coonoor (ONR) I believe.

MTP is then close to Coimbatore (which has two stations as far as I can see, CBE and CBF. Coimbatore itself then seems to be also known as Kovai... Confused? You won't be... )

It is interesting that many cities in the country have been renamed, but on an airline site try looking for Kolkata airport and you draw a blank. It is still Calcutta!

In Kerala all the cities have two names and the Railways use the older anglicized names.