reserve ahead for train? dehli-agra/dehli-jaipur

getting into dehli late on saturday. i heard the reservation office is closed on monday. i don't want to stick around dehli too long. how many days in advance do i need to reserve a one day return to agra? and how many days for dehli to jaipur? or anywhere in rajashtan? and if i have to reserve ahead, how do i do this from outside india and the u.k?

i hate the idea of reserving before i get to india, because of compromising flexibility, but i only have a month and don't want to waste time in ques or being stuck in a city i'm anxious to get out of.

thanks

my experience is that normally you will get a reservation for the agra train quite fast. Further I would advice - although many people advice to leave delhi as soon as possible - to spend some time in Delhi too. the city might be overbusy and crowded but delhi definitely is India, and it would be a waste to have entered India through Delhi and not have seen anything of it and its historical places. And if the crowdiness gets too much you can always escape for some time to the National Museum, which has beautiful pieces of Indian history. and if interested they also have a very interesting section abt the history of the scripts and languages of India. Lodhi Garden is also a very quite and relaxing place during early morning.

The only train route on which it is difficult to find a berth is the Delhi - Udaipur one, because there is only one train at present. Delhi - Jaipur is well connected. A new Jaipur Udaipur train has been announced but no dates yet.

So when you decide to book, make sure you cover the Udaipur segment - unless you are going there from Jodhpur, in which case you have to take a bus.