Nuts & Bolts of online registration for railway ticket booking.

steven_ber · Nov 30th, 2006, 11:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shark

First of all please remember that you need a paper ticket printed out by the railways to travel by the train.
The above advice is from Beach. I asked the question earlier if you can print off e-tickets on your home computer and use these for travel. The answer was yes. This advice seems to contradict this advice?? Help?

Chalk and cheese.

The advice from Beach was regarding I-tickets, the ones that are delivered (eg. to a hotel), a paper ticket printed by Indian Railways would be needed to travel.

I answered a question regarding E-Tickets, the ones printed on your home printer, where the 'ticket' you print is all you need to travel. (+ the ID used to book the ticket, eg. passport).

beach · Nov 30th, 2006, 12:11

This is typically what happens when my thread remains sticky (and grow roots) and the Indian Railways keep moving!

The original post is a bit old, but still usable as a reference. Certain things have changed over the time.

The post explains about the online booking service offered by Indian Railways (mostly registration process).

Initially online booking means, you book online; pay online & the railways send the regular paper ticket to your address through courier.

This method of booking is still an option for reservation. This (later) comes to be called as i-ticket.

Later Indian Railways introduced the so called 'print your own ticket by yourself' kind of online reservation. Here you book online, pay online & print your ticket by yourself. This is called e-ticket.

In short now you have two reservation methods to choose from in online booking.

1) e-ticket : Book online > Pay Online > Print ticket by yourself.
2) i-Ticket : Book online > Pay Online > Railways send you ticket by courier.

You need to select one of the options at the www.irctc.co.in reservation screen during your reservation process.

There are a few more articles on reservations & train systems over here at IndiaMike…..

Nick-H · Nov 30th, 2006, 12:40

e-tickets is relatively new, and may postdate your quote from Beach. I don't know if he covers them in the IndiaMike Train Guide...

Your e-ticket, along with your ID is good for travel. Really!

I didn't have a printer at home last time I took a train trip, but next time we do it'll certainly be e-tickets for us! (as long as we can get confirmed berths, of course). No doubts and no worries, no staying in expecting couriers (and visitors, no doubts about hotels keeping tickets safe)

<left this post for an hour, Beach and Steven have answered already>

Shark · Nov 30th, 2006, 13:02

Steven Ber, Beach and Nick H,

I must say thankyou very much for helping all of us through this minefield.

But I have just been through yet another excruciating experience on the IRCTC website and I have no idea what to do to resolve the issue.

I got right through the process of booking an e-ticket. I entered my credit card details and clicked "buy ticket".

Guess what? A blank page came up with this address in the address field:

It then timed itself out and I don't have any confirmation whatsoever if I successfully purchased the ticket, no PNR number, nothing. I am going crazy trying to do this. How can I now confirm without a PNR number or indeed whether anything worked?

beach · Nov 30th, 2006, 13:45

check at the reservation screen for the booking status. See the image with green arrow mark. If the tickets are not booked, payment is not charged (or will be refunded to the card.)

The irctc site is one of the heavly used databeses in the world. Also the worlds highest graffiti stuck welcome page!

Imagine Indian railways book 4.5 billion tickets an year.

(just a comparison, the whole of international airlines combined book about 1.5 billion tickets an year)

...and that explains the troubles.

one needs to be quick & a bit lucky to get through the first attempt.

machadinha · Nov 30th, 2006, 13:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shark

Guess what? A blank page came up with this address in the address field:

... Besides I'd have my doubts about leaving behind the URL to a page where I was filling in personal details and got disconnected where it might work for others. Just a word to the wise.

... Shark you've been around since 2002! What's going on?

SANJAY_DEL · Nov 30th, 2006, 14:47

You can take a print out of the e-ticket from your pc and show a photo id proof to the train conductor.

steven_ber · Jan 10th, 2007, 21:44

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

Barbara Martyn · Jan 17th, 2007, 10:31

Wish me well, everyone! I have managed to register. Now if only the system will work. The quick stuff was bounced back by my ISP as unsafe. I had hoped to reserve without having tickets delivered, which I understand is possible: you just get on the train and show your accepted and paid for reservation to the conductor. Well, we'll see. Here I go....

jever · Jan 23rd, 2007, 20:52

Hi,
I tried to book some tickets today. First two went OK, but after that site announced that there was problem with payment. I found somewhere in IM that there is a two ticket limit with ICICI but I did not find anything about when can I next pay via ICICI (is there a time limit or something?..)

nattynoo · Feb 20th, 2007, 12:36

Big thanks to Indiamikers. I booked all my train tickets today & am holding 4 booked train tickets in my hot little hand. Couldn't have done it without all the advice right here at IM.
They are E tickets payed for with visa card from Australia.
No hiccups, no probs at all. All booked one after each other in 15 minutes flat!!
It was all sooooooo easy. Too easy.
Finally, I might be able to help someone else here on IM!!!
Thanks again.

Baba Neil · Mar 12th, 2007, 09:15

Just need a clarification on the address item for registration. It looks like this is needed even if one plans on buying an e-ticket. As I have not yet made hotel reservations, not sure what to put here. Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks

steven_ber · Mar 12th, 2007, 12:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baba Neil

Just need a clarification on the address item for registration. It looks like this is needed even if one plans on buying an e-ticket. As I have not yet made hotel reservations, not sure what to put here. Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks

Choose a hotel from a guide book and use their address.

Woodlands Hotel, MG Road, any City........normally does it for me, there's an MG (Mahatma Gandhi) road in every city.

Baba Neil · Mar 12th, 2007, 22:40

Thanks for the response. I think just 1 more question before I take the plunge! I am buying tickets for myself and a friend. Do I need to register both parties or can I purchase e-tickets for 2 non-related persons under a single registration?

Hangianix · Mar 14th, 2007, 01:34

You can buy tickets upto 6 (or 8, not sure

) people for the same trip.

Edit: If you meant buying tickets for other people with your account, I havent tried it but should work, as a few times I put my gf name in the 1st position with her ID, when booked tickets with my account and it worked.

Nov 30th, 2006, 12:40	#33
Nick-H This is just a cameo appearance Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Chennai, India Posts: 35,899	e-tickets is relatively new, and may postdate your quote from Beach. I don't know if he covers them in the IndiaMike Train Guide... Your e-ticket, along with your ID is good for travel. Really! I didn't have a printer at home last time I took a train trip, but next time we do it'll certainly be e-tickets for us! (as long as we can get confirmed berths, of course). No doubts and no worries, no staying in expecting couriers (and visitors, no doubts about hotels keeping tickets safe) <left this post for an hour, Beach and Steven have answered already> __________________ ... Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock' (2)

Nov 30th, 2006, 13:02	#34
Shark Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Australia, New South Wales Posts: 160	Steven Ber, Beach and Nick H, I must say thankyou very much for helping all of us through this minefield. But I have just been through yet another excruciating experience on the IRCTC website and I have no idea what to do to resolve the issue. I got right through the process of booking an e-ticket. I entered my credit card details and clicked "buy ticket". Guess what? A blank page came up with this address in the address field: It then timed itself out and I don't have any confirmation whatsoever if I successfully purchased the ticket, no PNR number, nothing. I am going crazy trying to do this. How can I now confirm without a PNR number or indeed whether anything worked? Last edited by Shark : Dec 1st, 2006 at 03:55.

Nov 30th, 2006, 13:45	#35
beach Lost in translation Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: India ! Posts: 2,233	check at the reservation screen for the booking status. See the image with green arrow mark. If the tickets are not booked, payment is not charged (or will be refunded to the card.) The irctc site is one of the heavly used databeses in the world. Also the worlds highest graffiti stuck welcome page! Imagine Indian railways book 4.5 billion tickets an year. (just a comparison, the whole of international airlines combined book about 1.5 billion tickets an year) ...and that explains the troubles. one needs to be quick & a bit lucky to get through the first attempt. Attached Thumbnails

Jan 17th, 2007, 10:31	#39
Barbara Martyn tuxie Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Washington, USA Posts: 111	trains Wish me well, everyone! I have managed to register. Now if only the system will work. The quick stuff was bounced back by my ISP as unsafe. I had hoped to reserve without having tickets delivered, which I understand is possible: you just get on the train and show your accepted and paid for reservation to the conductor. Well, we'll see. Here I go....

Jan 23rd, 2007, 20:52	#40
jever Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Finland Posts: 8	Hi, I tried to book some tickets today. First two went OK, but after that site announced that there was problem with payment. I found somewhere in IM that there is a two ticket limit with ICICI but I did not find anything about when can I next pay via ICICI (is there a time limit or something?..) Last edited by jever : Jan 24th, 2007 at 12:04.

Nov 30th, 2006, 12:11	#32
beach Lost in translation Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: India ! Posts: 2,233	This is typically what happens when my thread remains sticky (and grow roots) and the Indian Railways keep moving! The original post is a bit old, but still usable as a reference. Certain things have changed over the time. The post explains about the online booking service offered by Indian Railways (mostly registration process). Initially online booking means, you book online; pay online & the railways send the regular paper ticket to your address through courier. This method of booking is still an option for reservation. This (later) comes to be called as i-ticket. Later Indian Railways introduced the so called 'print your own ticket by yourself' kind of online reservation. Here you book online, pay online & print your ticket by yourself. This is called e-ticket. In short now you have two reservation methods to choose from in online booking. 1) e-ticket : Book online > Pay Online > Print ticket by yourself. 2) i-Ticket : Book online > Pay Online > Railways send you ticket by courier. You need to select one of the options at the www.irctc.co.in reservation screen during your reservation process. There are a few more articles on reservations & train systems over here at IndiaMike…..

Nov 30th, 2006, 14:47	#37
SANJAY_DEL Account Closed Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: NEW DELHI, INDIA Posts: 1,351	You can take a print out of the e-ticket from your pc and show a photo id proof to the train conductor.

Jan 10th, 2007, 21:44	#38
steven_ber Member Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: South of England. Posts: 11,439	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

Feb 20th, 2007, 12:36	#41
nattynoo Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: QLD, Australia Posts: 62	Big thanks to Indiamikers. I booked all my train tickets today & am holding 4 booked train tickets in my hot little hand. Couldn't have done it without all the advice right here at IM. They are E tickets payed for with visa card from Australia. No hiccups, no probs at all. All booked one after each other in 15 minutes flat!! It was all sooooooo easy. Too easy. Finally, I might be able to help someone else here on IM!!! Thanks again.

Mar 12th, 2007, 09:15	#42
Baba Neil Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toronto Canada Posts: 6	Address Just need a clarification on the address item for registration. It looks like this is needed even if one plans on buying an e-ticket. As I have not yet made hotel reservations, not sure what to put here. Any advice would be most welcome. Thanks

Mar 12th, 2007, 22:40	#44
Baba Neil Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Toronto Canada Posts: 6	Another question Thanks for the response. I think just 1 more question before I take the plunge! I am buying tickets for myself and a friend. Do I need to register both parties or can I purchase e-tickets for 2 non-related persons under a single registration?

Mar 14th, 2007, 01:34	#45
Hangianix Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Hungary Posts: 26	You can buy tickets upto 6 (or 8, not sure ) people for the same trip. Edit: If you meant buying tickets for other people with your account, I havent tried it but should work, as a few times I put my gf name in the 1st position with her ID, when booked tickets with my account and it worked.

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