ticket availability issues/questions!

suiko

OK, me again... IR has logged off for the night,so I shall have to wait till tomorrow morning to recommence battle with it

Gf doesn't want to go to Ajanta, so we will travel after all Mumbai-Sanchi or Orchha in one go. There is no availability on any night train in 2AC or 3AC on the day we want to travel (Sat 13 Dec), so will have to travel 1st class on this, I think. Or might it be worth trying to get on Tourist Quota when we get to Mumbai (this would be morning of 12 Dec).

Next bit... Jhansi - Khandwa is proving very problematic too. No availability on night trains in 2AC, 3AC or first on the day we want to travel again (18 Dec), only in one train in Sleeper class. I thought of booking two upper berths for this (good choice?), but not great as it arrives in Khandwa at 04.20. I imagine there's not a lot to do in Khandwa till it gets light (6am??)
I imagine there is no tourist quota at Jhansi? Or am I wrong? If not, might it be worth leaving this reservation and going to Gwalior (for example) the day before to try to get on the Goa Express (better times)?

Thanks again

steven_ber

May help to post a rough copy of your Itinerary as people may wonder why you're going Mumbai-Jhansi-Khandwa.

Why Khandwa?

Omkareshwar?

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How to get helpful replies to your transport/Itinerary questions.


Train information.


RAC & Waitlists explained.

suiko

Yes, sure - of course you're right! As I've lost track by now of all my postings on here, I suppose I sort of took it for granted

5 weeks, 2 in MP and 3 in Karnataka/Kerala/Goa
OK... it goes something like this (at the moment )

11, 12 Dec Mumbai
13 Dec travel north to MP
14 Dec Sanchi
15, 16, 17 Dec Orchha
18 Dec travel to Khandwa
19, 20, 21 Dec Omkareshwar/Maheshwar
22, 23, 24 Dec Mandu
taxi?? to Indore, flight to Bangalore (booked) - sleep Mysore
26, 27, 28 Dec Mysore
29, 30, 31 Dec, 1 Jan Coorg
2, 3, 4 Jan Kannur
5 Jan Udupi
6, 7, 8, 9, 10 Jan Gokarna, Goa (and/or Vengurla)
11 Jan train Mumbai
12 Jan Mumbai
13 Jan leave

steven_ber

Ah ha, I was going to suggest trying a train from Mumbai to Indore, then Khandwa to Jhansi, but as you have a flight booked.

There are ways to get the train you want, but they can be more expensive.

Take the Punjab Mail, you could try and book the train from Mumbai to Vidisha, if no luck, try Mumbai to Bhopal, it may be on a different quota, then try Mumbai to Jhansi to see if that's on the same quota.(if you can get tickets to Jhansi, you can still get off at Vidisha, though the ticket would then be finished.

You could also look for trains from Mumbai to Itarsi, there's loads of trains, but Itarsi is 150kms from Sanchi, but that's only just over 3 hours in a taxi.

Also look for different places, for example, if you go Mumbai-Sanchi-Orchha, then try for a train to Khandwa, if no luck, try Datia to Khandwa, if still no joy, there's a well timed overnight train from Shivpuri to Indore, try that for availability.

Datia is about 30kms north of Jhansi, Shivpuri is 90kms east of Jhansi, both are tourist destinations in themselves.

If you still have no luck, let me know, I'll see if i can find anything.

suiko

The Punjab Mail is the one we had for Mumbai-MP, I think. Nothing left on 2AC or 3AC as far as Vidisha or Bhopal on the INdian Railways site, tho there is,apparently, on http://erail.in/. I didn't look for Jhansi on IR site.

Is there any point in looking on erail,or best to wait till tomorrow am?

Will check out Itarsi option - thanks!

I don't mind it being a bit more expensive if needs be.

The trickier bit seems to be the Jhansi-Khandwa bit. Shivpuri (will have to look that up) - Indore is certainly well timed, and availability in 3AC, according to erail at least. Datia seems like Jhansi (I'm getting availability too on the erail site).

Thanks again

steven_ber

I used to get availability numbers on erail AFTER the official website had closed, and the numbers were always right, so have a good search.

steven_ber

Just a thought, and not even a well thought through thought. (try saying that after a few beers)

If there is a particular train that you really would prefer to use, have a look to see if there is a foreign tourist quota.

I'll be in Mumbai in 9 days and may be able to purchase FTQ tickets and drop them off at your hotel, I'll be going to the tourist desk for my own ticket, so it wouldn't be a problem.

However, I'm not sure if I can book FTQ tickets for in someone else's name, I'll have to look into that.

suiko

Wow... that is a very kind offer

The Shivpuri one does look good, tho I haven't had time to look it up in the Footprint guide yet. Otherwise, ideally we'd take the Lucknow express 2AC side berths for Mumbai-MP.

How do I find out if there's a tourist quota on a certain train?

I'm sure you know best about the erail site, but it does show up availability of the Lucknow express, and my frustrations this afternoon make me fairly sure there isn't any!

steven_ber

What are you seeing on the erail website?

Are you going through to the official website in the bottom half of the page (and having to fill in the train details yourself)?

Either way, erail takes it's info from the Indian Railway server.

suiko

I've accessed it by pasting this in my browser

http://erail.in/

Is there another way?

steven_ber

Nothing on the 13th. and no FTQ.

However, a train with the same times has availabilty in 2A and 3A for the 12th.

suiko

Hmmm... well, I would like to take that, but my gf wants a day in Mumbai to rest

Guess we'll have to take the Punjab Mail... is there an FTQ for that?

steven_ber

Indian trains are difficult to book, have you considered changing your girlfriend?

There's 2 FTQ berths in 2A on the Punjab Mail on the 13th, so tell your girlfriend to stop packing her bags.

However, these berths may be sold before I get to Mumbai, though there's a good chance they wont.

I'll have to find out if I can purchase FTQ tickets for someone else, If I can, I will, and I'll meet you at Vidisha train station or somewhere else to collect the money.

steven_ber

To find FTQ availability.....

Search for your train, enter the class (try 2A, 3A is nearly always show with 2A) and date, then look for 'Enter Quota' or just 'Quota', click on 'general', then a drop down box will appear, choose Foreign tourist or tourist quota, whatever it says, I can't remember.

suiko

Well, it might indeed be easier than getting a berth on one of these trains. Best not say that tho,in case I refer her to this thread at some point...

Have booked 3AC side berths from Gwalior - Indore (am wondering now if legroom will be an issue, but it's a bit late for that now :-) ) Now looking at Punjab Mail for MUMbai-MP - choice is between 3AC and First. How does two lower berths in 3AC sound? Or would First be a better option?

Are you going to MP too then? What do you reckon on our route?