ello ello, need to book a train for next week but it looks all full up : (

SO i just joined the forum and that, and am arriving in Mumbai on tuesday 21st, (first time in india, flying from UK), and was looking to travel down to kerala.

Read ALOT of the info here (thanks to all) and in other places on the trains, but have given up searching and am just gonna ask, sorry to be lazy but i'm a bit tired!

Basically i've left it very late to book a train, thought i should get the 6345 from LTT to CAN and all i see is waitlist with numbers like 147/78 throughout the week until the 27th where it says RAC 100/80. (this is for the sleeper class).

I have no problem paying a bit more for a comfortable first ride on indian trains...i just want to get on and get to kerala ASAP and not be sitting in Mumbai where it is more busy and more exspensive. So is there anything i can do? How exactly does the waitlist and RAC work??

thanks alot for any help u can give

Klay Pigeon : )

You can go to SD Enterprises in Wembley tomorow and beg them to do you a 1-day Indrail pass, they wont be happy, they like more time, but they will get you a berth on the Foreign Tourist Quota, some thing you cant do from outside India.

Date.............SL........... .......3A

21-11-2006 AVAILABLE- 0002 NOT AVAILABLE
22-11-2006 AVAILABLE- 0002 AVAILABLE- 0001
23-11-2006 AVAILABLE- 0002 AVAILABLE- 0002

Other than that, book over the Internet for 3A, the waitlist is low and you should have a good chance of getting to 'confirmed' status.

RAC gets you a seat on the train until a berth becomes available.

When all RAC tickets are sold out, a waitlist is started.

WL 37/WL 9 = you were 37th to join the waitlist, but you are now 9th in the waitlist (due to cancellations etc.)

Thanks alot for your reply, sorry if this is a boring repeater to go through!! and also sorry for being disorganised...thank you thank you...


sunday tomorrow so S.D ain't open...so i'm trying to book my place on the list but the poor old site keeps flagging. I guess it has a lot to deal with! I hope it comes back to life soon.

If i eventually follow this through, and have as it showed me 37/9WL, i will then have to go to the station to pick up the ticket and see if i can get on that morning? It says i gotta get an i-ticket but i have no address for it to go to as i'm in the uk still...

Then it wont allow you to book an i-ticket, you can't pick them up at the station.

Book an e-ticket and print it on your home printer or a printer at an internet cafe, the printable ticket will be sent to you in an e-mail to print out any time you like.

It's only open during Indian business hours I believe (? I know, don't ask me.) It doesn't work all that great with me whenever I try during business hours for that matter. Keep your patience, you'll need it over there Good luck!

it doesn't do e-tickets when there is a waitlist.........?

hahaha! I will try my best. A nice challenge.

it is too late now and i am going to bed.

I guess i would have to have a place to stay sorted in order to book the i-ticket, so i could send them there...is that correct? The website is not working right now anyway, communication failurez etc...so i suppose i will come back to this tomorrow. Thanks for ur help steven, i hope i can sort myself out and get on a train by next week at least! If i am stuck in mumbai, anyone got any recommendationz?????

see ya

PiGeOn

Yeah. Keep ya shotgun close by.

True, I forgot, it was late and other members were giving me grief. (moderator duties)

Mumbai is very, very underated, it's a great city if you can just get away from the backpacker's areas.

You could head out to the Ellora Caves (Aurangabad) and pick up the train for Kerala from Manmad Junction!!