Knowing the Indian Train

yogivivek

thanks for the info beach

and that story is realy something! normaly you see things like that in jamesbond movies

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michellemm

Hello beach and everybody else!!

All this information got me confused... I'll try to make a summary and u tell me if it's right...

I´m going to India in February, northern area...and I was thinking about making the reservations a couple of days before getting the train, not by the internet from here or anything like it, because I'm not sure exactly where I'm going....I don't need the most super luxury train, but I wanted some comfort in the longer journeys (the short ones are fine...).

Ok, so considering all this: how can I make the reservations? Which classes are the best ones for what I want (for the long and short journeys)? Is it fine to do it a couple of days before? (for example, when I get to Jodhpur I already make my reservation to Jaisalmer 2 days after)

Thank you very much!!

SHIMLA

michellemm,

You need not bother about advance reservations in February, as its a very comfortable month in which to travel in India( except Goa during Carnival time).

For the overnight journeys you may consider AC2-Tier(2A) or AC3-Tier(3A). For the short, day journeys, AC Chair Car(CC) or second sitting(SS) are good enough.

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michellemm

Thank you very much Shimla!!!

Yaatri

Excellent post. I had been scratching my head for days about WL140 /WL10. There is no epxlanation anywhere on the Indian Railways website about what this means. Although I joined this forum two weeks ago, I was unable post as my ISP had blocked the activating e-mail. Finally, the myster4y is solved. Thanks so very much Beach.

beach

The much awaited Indian railway call center is in.

It’s launched at Bangalore and Patna. This is a pilot scheme and would be available for the whole country in the coming months.


The idea is to have a single number for the whole information gateway for the Indian Railways throughout the country. The number is 139. Dial this and you’ll be taken to the voice activated system for further options. The telephone gateway is operated by BSNL (The telephone company) & RailTel (the IR company).

All the calls made to this number is charged at the local call rate (Rs2) and for every call made to the number RailTel will be paid 15paise by BSNL. That is the business deal. The project cost is six million rupees and the planned recovery period is four years. If the initial response is any indication the recovery will be done earlier than that.

The first 24 hours received a whooping 40,000 calls!. These two are the pilot centers and the streamlining and introduction of more centers are to follow.

Services available:
24 hours enquiry on:
PNR status of reserved seats (that is the waitlist status)
Accommodation availability
Arrival / Departure schedules of trains
General enquiry like cancellation rules, lost ticket rules, concession fares, fare, public amenities, facilities for disabled, important features of particular stations, Recording of grievances etc.


Features:
Interactive voice activates system. The system will guide you to select the language. For Karnataka state its English (standard), Hindi (standard) or Kannada (state language).

Further the system asks you to select the type of enquiry listed above by entering the corresponding number spelt.

The system can recognize voice. That means you need not have to remember the train number. Just speak out the name of the train. The system repeats the name you have told and ask to confirm by saying yes or no. Similarly is for the station names. Also it gives the option of entering the STD code of stations to check the arrival or departure time of trains.

If there is difficulty in recognizing, the system transfers the call to the operator who speaks to you.

Also in the beginning also you can choose to speak to a person by selecting the appropriate option given.
At present anyone dialing from outside the state should prefix Bangalore’s STD code. That is if from outside Karnataka dial 080-139. Similarly people dialing through cell phone too have to dial 080139. Gradually as the system is installed at more locations the prefix STD code will vanish and it’ll be just 139 anywhere in the country. The plans are there to install many free hotlines at every 100 meters in major stations like Bangalore. Passengers can just pick the receiver, they are automatically connected to the call center.

I’m not sure about international calls. May be people can try +9180139

Also the PNR status can be received as an SMS. Send an SMS to 1390. The message should be PNR (a single space) the ten digits PNR number

Example:
Send an SMS to 1390 with the text

PNR 1234567890


A tailpiece:

Why at Patna ?, It’s at the home state of Lalu (Railway minister)!
Why at Bangalore?, It’s the mother of all call centers!

michellemm

Hey folks!

I wanted to know also if, when arriving in Kolkata on Feb, 6th, will I be able to get a, for example, 2AC or 3AC for the next day to Varanasi?? I didn't understand when I read that only 2-class don't need pre-booking, so all the other classes do need it? Can this booking be made one day in advance? (from 6th, Feb to 7th, Feb)

Thanks!!!

beach

You need prior reservation for traveling in any sleeper class coaches (1AC, 2AC, 3AC, 2 Sleeper) and chair cars. The place you can directly buy tickets is generally the 2 class (seating with no reservation).

Usually the regular booking for reservations closes about 6 hours before the departure of the train. In some cases it closes even 12 hours prior to the departure.

There are two options for last minutes reservation.

1.The Tatkal Scheme (see the writings above ). Most of the express trains have a few coaches meant for last minute reservation with a premium on ticket.

2.Check directly with the train conductor (TTE) for berth availability. Buy a regular unreserved ticket from the platform counter and go to the train. Find the TTE and check with him if any berths are available due to last minute cancellation. If so he’ll allot the berth and you need to pay the difference in fare. There is an element of risk, as you will not get a reservation if there is no vacancy.

Theoretically it’s possible to reserve a seat for the next day train journey. But the problem is availability at that point of time. Especially if the day falls on a special day like a weekend or something like that. In major cities there are special counters for foreign tourists.

michellemm

All right, beach, thanks a lot!!

Yetijuice

In mid-December 1983 I was shivering in Kathmandu thinking about a warm beach for Christmas. On the front door of the Old Vienna Restaurant in Thamel was a poster advertising Jimmy’s Land of Adventure Tours trip to Goa on a Swiss bus. I had visions of lederhosen, raclette, chocolate, alpenhorns, and yodeling. Why not? I showed up at the meeting point for the bus departure on the morning of December 17th.

There were 14 passengers on the bus. Twelve were Indian laborers who had signed up with an overseas job recruiting office for jobs in the Middle East. An Australian and I were the only western passengers on board. The two of us were the only up-front paying passengers on the bus. We paid 800 rupees NPR each for the announced 4 day Kathmandu to Goa trip.

We proceeded westwards on the Rajpath towards Mugling. Two hours later smoke billowed in the glassed-in front drivers compartment and we pulled over and stopped. At least we were outside Kathmandu valley. The oil hose was draped over the engine block and had melted through. It took two hours to jury-rig a repair before getting back on our way.

Jimmy was short and spunky with the gift of gab. We reached Sonauli at 8:30 at night. Jimmy claimed that the border crossing was closed for the night. Not true. Jimmy said we would be on the road at 9:00 the next morning. Not quite. We were all on the bus at that time except for Jimmy. Jimmy was busy humping his girlfriend and did not show up until 2 p.m.

The bus traveled a few hundred meters to the Indian border post. As we came to a stop, Jimmy asked me to claim that a sleeping bag in the rack above my seat was mine. This was less than a minute before the customs inspector boarded the bus. I told Jimmy, no way, Jose! I had no idea what was inside that sleeping bag. The customs inspector never asked about the sleeping bag, so Jimmy got it into India alright.

We were on the road again. As long as we were moving everything was fine. We arrived in Delhi at 8:00 p.m. Jimmy announced that the oil line was going to get a proper repair. We were all to meet in front of the Royal Nepal embassy at noontime the next day. We found a cheap hotel to stay in. The following day (December 20th) we were at the meeting point at the appointed time but there was no Jimmy and no bus. Finally, one hour late, Jimmy showed up in a car. Jimmy stated that the bus was not ready yet. The bus would be ready the NEXT day at noontime.

I wanted to get to Goa for Christmas. I asked Jimmy for a refund. Jimmy claimed he had no money on him. I slugged Jimmy hard in the shoulder once. Out popped his wallet and I had my refund, minus the publicized 30% cancellation charge. Now I agree that generally you are not supposed to punch somebody. Jimmy was an exception to that rule. Jimmy would have tried anybody’s patience.

I took a taxi to get to the train station. I arrived just in time to board the Delhi-Bombay train WITHOUT a ticket. I walked up and down the train in search of a conductor. It was slow moving through the train wearing a backpack. A conductor in the first class sleeper compartment told me to find a seat in third class unreserved near the back of the train, I went there and waited. Three hours after departing Delhi the conductor came to the third class bogey and sold me a ticket. I had to pay a penalty of 100% for the distance covered before I purchased the ticket. The ticket cost 100 rupees (10.4 rupees equaled US $1). The penalty added 12 rupees to that.

It was a 24-hour train trip to Bombay. In Bombay I boarded a bus to Panjim. Late the next afternoon (December 22nd) the bus arrived in Panjim. I then took a bus towards Calangute. I got off at Candolim and stayed in Bob’s Inn and Bar next to a Catholic church.

Several days later I ran across the Australian who had been on Jimmy’s Land of Adventure Tours bus. He had remained on the bus for the entire duration and had arrived in Goa on Christmas Eve. The advertised 4 days Kathmandu to Goa bus trip had actually taken one week.

On a later trip to Nepal I mentioned my misadventure on Jimmy’s Land of Nectar Adventure Tour to the owner of the Old Vienna restaurant. She shuddered and said others had complained to her about Jimmy’s bus and that his advertising was no longer accepted.

My advice to others traveling overland from Nepal to India and vice versa is to arrange travel only to the border. Cross the border on your own and find new transportation to continue on your way.

The 100% penalty for the distance already covered for ticket-less train travelers is an encouragement to buy the ticket as soon as you can. As this happened 21 years ago the policy may well be different now. The penalty may well have been increased.

lonelyaztec

Hey,

Did u know abt the Him-Sagar Express.

The Himsagar Express between Jammu Tawi and Kanyakumari has the longest run both in terms of total time taken and distance covered. It covers its route of 2,344 miles or 3,751 Km in 74 hours and 55 minutes. It also covers the largest number of states.

Himsagar Express serves 4 zones – Southern Railways, South Central, Central and Northern Railways. It runs through the states of Kerala, Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

The stops on HimSagar :

Jammu Tawi, Bari Brahman, Samba, Kathua, Madhopur Punjab, Pathankot, Chakki Bank, Mukerian, Dasuya, Tanda Urmar, Jalandar Cant, Phagwara Jn, Phillaur Jn, Ludhiana Jn, Kila Raipur, Ahmadgarh, Malerkotla, Dhuri Jn, Sangrur, Sunam, Chajli, Lehra Gaga, Jakhal Jn, Tohana, Narwana Jn, Uchana, Barsola, Jind Jn, Julana, Rohtak Jn, Sampla, Bahadurgarh, Shakurbasti, Delhi Kishanganj, New Delhi, H Nizamuddin, Faridabad, Agra Cantt, Dhaulpur, Gwalior, Jhansi Jn, Bhopal Jn, Itarsi Jn, Nagpur, Sevagram, Chandrapur, Balharshah, Ramagundam, Warangal, Khammam, Vijaywada Jn, Tenali Jn, Ongole, Nellore, Gudur Jn, Renigunta Jn, Katpadi Jn, Jplarpettai, Salem Jn, Erode Kn, Tiruppur, Coimbatore Jn, Palghat, Ottapalam, Trichur, Alwaye, Ernakulam Town, Kottayam, Tiruvalla, Chengannur, Quilon Jn, Trivandrum Central, Nagarcoil, Kanayakumari.

Can u imagine ?

Train Number 6318: Jammu Tawi to Kanyakumari, leaves Jammu Tawi at 23:15 hrs on Mondays.
Train Number 6317: Kanyakumari to Jammu Tawi, leaves Kanyakumari at 14:05 hrs on Fridays

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My photoblog

beach

The name suggests the origin and end of the train.

'Him' means snow (refers to the snow in Himalaya (Him-Alaya = house of snow ))

'Sagar' means ocean. (this refers to the Indian ocean at Kannyakumari)


The train is painted cream color on top half (depics snow) and blues at bottom half (depicts water)

So HimSagar express means Snow to Ocean express

lonelyaztec

Hey Beach,

I did not know about the colour of the train. Interesting fact.

freddyspex

thank you beach for your patience....one step ahead for my train journeys

mauielectric

peace y'all...

one question re: reservation for train tiks mumbai-trivandrum...(trying to take the nethravathy exp) I can't make the reservation thru the IR homepage because I wouldn't have the address in india for it to be sent and also can't go to delhi to pick it up...and I would arrive in mumbai only 1,2days before heading down to trivandrum...then how would I make the reservation for the train tiks? I would be travelling in mid march..would it be too risky to book when I get there? or else how would I go about and get reservations before hand? Thank you for your help.