E-ticketing and Booking Via SMS

i tickets are sent to the cities which are listed in the website. Some cities viz. Delhi, Kolkata etc. deliveries are made within two days and in other listed cities it is delivered in three days.I've heard no bad remarks about the service. It delivers promptly.You have to show the PNR no. to the delivery boy of the courier (normally 'Overnight Express')at the time of delivery at your given address.So you have to book the tickets, keeping the delivery dates in mind.

The Taj Express can only be booked 30 days in advance.

If you're staying in Paharganj the Shatabdi would be a better option as it departs from New Delhi station an hour earlier than the Taj Express, yet you'd have to leave extra time to get to Nizamuddin for the Taj Express, the Shatabdi also gets to Agra 2 hours earlier, though the Shatabdi would be full of tourists, but thats a small price to pay for good timing.

There are a number of daytime trains with this restriction, does anyone have a list?

Thanks steven_ber!! I thought that must be it [30 days for Taj]I kind of remember reading this someplace, but to be honest, I have read so much from the wealth of information on this forum... that it has begun to blur together!

Since we are staying near Lodhi Gardens.. NZM is much easier for us to get to than NDLS. So I guess I will have to wait to book on the Taj next month. Thanks again!

I would also be interested in such a list.
Can't find much information

except this:

I have registersd with IRCTC and been able to get my train e ticket. I have used my passport number as identity for entry to the train station. I am obviously wary about taking my passport with me while travelling by train, do the train inspectors accept a photocopy of the passport. The IRCTC also mention you can use a driving Licence as proof, but the wording id photo suggests a photograph is necessary in the id document. My driving Licence (UK) doesn't have a photo on it, or am I mistaken that aphoto is necessary
Thanks to all that can help

If you are a tourist you have no choice but to carry your passport. You will need it to book into a hotel!! Also by law you should carry it for identification purposes!!

Buy a money belt, they fit in there quite nicely, make sure the money belt has a plastic zip lock bag inside otherwise your stuff will get ruined by sweat!

So may as well just use the passport

Thanks Cyberhippie for the info. I realise that by law you should carry your passport id with you at all time, its the same in all the othe Asian Countries that I have visited, though most people don't do this.I understand the need to carry the passport for train entry but is it necessary to carry the passport with you all the time, is the risk of being challenged for your i.d. by say the police, greater in India than othe Asian Countries.

I rarely get asked for my passport by police and I don't carry it with me at all times. It's in my room a lot of the time. However if there's a problem it's a quick visit to my room to pick it up. I don't often travel without it, almost never in fact!!

If you have given your passport no. as identity then you have to show that when asked for.Actually, you have to show that particular identity proof you have mentioned, not a substitute.Travelling without the mentioned identity is travelling as without ticket in case of e-tickets as per railway rules.So to avoid trouble it is better for you to carry the mentioned proof.

Adding the following to any thread I can think of to avoid repeat questions.

I-Ticket = book on the net, have it delivered to an address in India, a hotel or travel agent for example, you can no longer pick these tickets up at the station.

E-Ticket = Book on the net, then print the ticket on your home computer.


Advance reservations.

Most tickets can only be booked 60 days in advance, a few tickets can only be booked 30 days in advance. (Some Intercity and daytime, short distance trains)


Opening times for train bookings.

Booking through Internet is allowed from 5 AM to 11.30 PM (IST)
23:30 - 18:00 GMT

Happy to report I have now booked all of my family's e-tickets for next month!! No problems at all!!! I just had to remember what time it was in India when I logged on to the site and to wait patiently for the computers to communicate with one another [esp. during 'white screen' time after purchase!]. Thanks again for all the hard work everyone has put into making this forum such an incredible resource!! Just about any question you might have.. has an answer some place on this site and if not, someone will surely reply in no time at all! Thanks!!

** Sidenote... this will be my first trip back to India in 30 years!!! Don't ask why it took so long! Better late than never I say!

Congrats Chaimom

Couple of year back, we can't even think of booking Indian Railway ticket by this way..

E-tkt is a great relief for oversees passenger to travel by best mode of Journey(Train) in India.

Even I never went to Booking counter in last 3 years for booking ticket(though went twice to cancel i-ticket). I always use online booking, its very easy.

Ya- I had tried both methods and also had gone through every operation of IRCTC like cancellations, error payments etc.

i-ticket: A good courier delivered the ticket. No problem.
Error Payment: I paid through bank account and while doing transection- connection was cut...money was sent back to account with email telling me that I should book again. You can check this in your BOOKING HISTORY link.

e-ticket: This is widely used by me. All you have to do is filling up correct identity-although they do not harass in coach but a extra-stressful officer may create problem if you are NOT carrying your identity or your identity is wrong. So-just be sure and check everything once again when final screen comes.

Cancellations: No problem with that either- they will deduct according to rules as described...but money will come-this is sure and it always had...as I have seen.

CUSTOMER CARE PHONES: Have patience here-they are usualy busy but I kept on trying...and found very helpful people sitting on those seats....

I booked a ticket using IRCTC and however was unable to perform the journey

I send an email to care@irctc.co.in and this is the reply I got:


Dear Customer,
Thanks for showing interest in our site.

Kindly note that e-ticket cancellation can be done up to the chart preparation, after making chart e-ticket cancellation not allowed and your chart is already prepared. In this case we forwarded to railways for the TDR process. Railways check all the matters and decide what amount should be refunded. Once the railways refunded your amount, we will credited to your same account and it will take more that 90 days for processing.






WHOOOOO!!! 90 days? is this true? and what %age is refunded?

I am trying to register on the Indian Railways page so I can book tickets over the internet.

I have filled out the form at least 5 separate times, and every time I hit "submit" it just takes me to a blank page. And nothing happens. If I then go back to the home page and try to log in using the username/password that I just typed into the form, it doesn't work. I don't know what I'm doing wrong! I've even tried it on 2 different browsers: Firefox and Internet Explorer.

Had anyone had this problem? How do I get around it?

Thanks for your help!