Online train ticket purchase. Deliver 3 weeks prior to arrival. Good/Bad idea?

Arrive in India in about 3 weeks.

I've read the very good discussion of purchasing tickets from the India Rail web site. I understand that you need an address in India for delivery. The tickets are typically delivered 2 - 3 days after online purchase - from what I've read.

Since I have a tight itinerary planned, I thought it would be wise to get my train tickets now. Then I would not have to be concerned about trains which are often 100% full.

I have four trains of concern:

(1) Mumbai to Aurangabad (overnight)
(2) Aurangabad to Jhansi (overnight)
(3) Varanasi to Agra (overnight)
(4) Jaipur to Delhi (morning)

Once I have reserved my Mumbai hotel (which I hope to do within a day or so), I would inquire about them receiving my tickets.

Have others purchased tickets 3 weeks out?
Should I wait until a few days before my departure?
Should I wait until my arrival? (assumes those trains will not sell out)

Any other thoughts?

(getting anxious)

Hi Mishmash,

I did it more than a month before my trip last August, and in two days the tickets were in the hotel in Delhi, even before i had informed them. Don't worry, because it works well.

Get a prior written confirmation from your hotel that they'll accept and hold the tickets for you till your arrival.

I keep getting an inconsistant message about the ability to collect tickets from the railway authorities themselves. What is the current situation about will call.?

I had the same concern, as I'd had conflicting answers as to whether Delhi will-call is available. I emailed the Indian Rail customer service about two hours ago, and received this email shortly after. The answer is yes, in New Delhi only:

---
Dear Customer,

Kindly note that you can avail the facility of special NRI personal
collection of tickets, which presently is available at New Delhi Only.
The collection center is located at:

IRCTC Limited
New Delhi Reservation Office,
IRCA Buildings, Chelmsford Road, New Delhi 110055.
Collection hours: Mondays to Sundays: 24 hours

for this you need to give the above address while booking as your
delivery address.We retain your ticket in our office.

Hi
I successfully booking my 9 rail journeys over the internet 60 days before the day of travel. I was ready at the computer as soon as booking opened on the relevant day. This meant that I received confirmed seating for each journey with no anxiety about being on a wait list or RAC. Of course, I had also sought my hotel's OK for them to receive the tickets beforehand and also sent them a copy of the booking with my authorisation for them to receive them and keep them in a safe place until our arrival.
Suggest that you book ASAP.

Hi Aussie5,
I thought that there was a limit to the number of online bookings that could be made in one month.
Regards

HelloSing
Yes, I had thought that the maximum was 6 in a month but I spread my bookings over a two week period and the system kept on accepting them!

You just answered my question, I think. I'm hitting the 60-day mark for my first train trip in a day or two, but I have several more journeys to book after that. You didn't book them all at once, but rather each day you hit the 60-day limit, right?

pesworld
Yes, I booked each leg as soon as it hit the 60 days from the date of the particular journey. Note that the booking on the first day opens late - I think 4 hours after usual bookings open.

Thanks Aussie5,

Hmmm.... Interpretation please?

Terms and Conditions:
Does this mean that if you make six bookings on say 30 November you can also make six bookings on 1 December? I wonder....

Regards

HelloSing
Cant answer your query, but from the regulation it does say a maximum of 6 bookings per calendar month - so you should be able to.

But from my experience I was able to book 9 rail journeys for two people in a two week period over the internet, so maybe that regulation is not being implemented. Of maybe it was just lucky?!

Maybe your two week period was in two different calendar months.

Hmmmm.

Only a little over a week left in October. This could work!

Pezworld
Nope - my 9 rail journeys were all booked over the last two weeks of September for travel in November. So the 6 booking maximum regulation was clearly not enforced for my bookings

Well that's excellent news!