Train booking nightmare?!

sandrinella · Oct 22nd, 2007, 22:06

Hello friends,

I have tried on many different days and times of the day to book a ticket on IRCTC but somehow I never manage to get it right and have no clue why...

When clicking on the e-ticket button, I get the message: "Only Confirmed/RAC ticket booked. Ticket can be booked only up to the time of charting"
What exactly does this mean?

When checking on the trains (I want to book BCY to LJN on Nov 21st, CC) the message I ALWAYS get says: "Could not retrieve train list. Selected Class/Date combination has no trains. Please select different Date/Class combination."

When I look on the Indian Railway website this connection (train 4203) very well exists...

Am I overlooking something here, or am I just too stupid to book a train ticket?

steven_ber · Oct 22nd, 2007, 22:18

Quote:

When clicking on the e-ticket button, I get the message: "Only Confirmed/RAC ticket booked. Ticket can be booked only up to the time of charting"
What exactly does this mean?

It's just a reminder, just click on OK.

Quote:

When checking on the trains (I want to book BCY to LJN on Nov 21st, CC) the message I ALWAYS get says: "Could not retrieve train list. Selected Class/Date combination has no trains. Please select different Date/Class combination."

When I look on the Indian Railway website this connection (train 4203) very well exists...

BCY = VARANASI CITY (most trains call at Varanasi Jn (BSB)

Train 4203 calls at: -

BSB - VARANASI JN
BOY - BHADOHI
BSE - BADSHAHPUR
PBH - PARTAPGARH JN
ANTU- ANTU
AME - AMETHI
GNG - GAURIGANJ
KCJ - KASIMPUR
JAIS- JAIS
RBL - RAE BARELI JN
BCN - BACHHRAWAN
LKO - LUCKNOW

Try booking BSB to LKO

sandrinella · Oct 22nd, 2007, 22:23

that can't be...
I have checked it over and over...
I will try with BSB and LKO...

Thanks a million!

sandrinella · Oct 24th, 2007, 14:53

Now that I got the correct station codes (big thanks to steven_ber) I have been trying for the last days almost any hour of the day to book my train ticket, but I only get as far as entering passengers, etc and then I get the message: "Unable to retrieve due to communication failure."

Does anybody know the reason by any chance?
Is it the website?
My computer?

Mickey S · Oct 24th, 2007, 14:58

It's not your computer, and you're not alone. IRCTC is by far the most frustrating and unreliable website I have ever used.

All you can do is keep trying.

Travellerette · Oct 25th, 2007, 05:34

When I got the "unable to retrieve due to communication failure" messege this is what seemed to help:
I went to http://www.indianrail.gov.in/ and found the train that I wanted. Once I knew the availability, I went to the IRCTC site and chose 'quickbook' on the left side of the screen.
I entered my info.. and presto - it worked! I tried this a couple times - and it seemed to get around the error messege.

Good luck !

teliciabel · Oct 29th, 2007, 16:45

Yes this is very frustrating!
I am trying for more than one week buying a ticket and I get always the same error: "Unable to retrieve due comunication failure" Or any other error!
This is so annoying! I think the tickets will exhaust before I can buy one!
But one good thing is this Forum, since I found it it became easier to deal with a couple of things about traveling in india

teliciabel · Oct 29th, 2007, 17:07

Once I arrived to the payment option in the e-ticket booking from irctc, but again I wasn't able to continue because of the choosen payment option, I think!
Do you know among the payment options, the one I should choose if I want to pay by visa card like MBnet?
Thank you

Mickey S · Oct 29th, 2007, 17:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by teliciabel

Once I arrived to the payment option in the e-ticket booking from irctc, but again I wasn't able to continue because of the choosen payment option, I think!
Do you know among the payment options, the one I should choose if I want to pay by visa card like MBnet?
Thank you

Choose ICICI, which is the first option. But there's still no guarantee that you won't get another "communications failure" before managing to complete your purchase. It just took me 3 hours (and about a dozen attempts) to book one journey on IRCTC.

Why is IRCTC so bad? Presumably they have the same hardware and software as other internet-based retailers, so is it the state of India's telecommunications infrastructure that lets them down?

vmehra24 · Oct 29th, 2007, 18:03

At least it never overbooks and the Customer Support is prompt.
Which is more than what can be said of many travel sites.
A friend of mine was badly burned by makemytrip.com a couple of years ago and is still waiting for a refund.

vsp27759 · Oct 29th, 2007, 18:09

Dear Sandrinella,

There could be problem with your Internet Connection. Kindly check this also.

vsp27759 · Oct 29th, 2007, 18:28

Dear Sandrinella,

The Train No.5007/5008 provide direct travel facility between Varanasi City (BCY) and Lucknow Junction (LJN). Please look at this:
----
You Queried For Train No Train Name Date Runs From Source Runs On
5007 MUV LJN EXPRESS 29/10/2007 MANDUADIH MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN
SNo Stn Code Stn Name Route No. Arrival Time Dep. Time Distance Day Remark
1 MUV MANDUADIH 1 Source 16:45 0 1
2 BSB VARANASI JN 1 16:55 17:00 4 1
3 BCY VARANASI CITY 1 17:06 17:08 7 1
4 SRNT SARNATH 1 17:19 17:21 12 1
5 ARJ AUNRIHAR JN 1 17:47 17:49 39 1
6 SDT SADAT 1 18:07 18:09 58 1
7 JKN JAKHANIAN 1 18:19 18:21 67 1
8 DLR DULLAHAPUR 1 18:30 18:32 76 1
9 MAU MAU JN 1 18:51 18:56 97 1
10 IAA INDARA JN 1 19:08 19:10 105 1
11 KER KIRIHRAPUR 1 19:21 19:23 118 1
12 BLTR BELTHARA ROAD 1 19:41 19:43 132 1
13 LRD LAR ROAD 1 19:57 19:59 145 1
14 SRU SALEMPUR JN 1 20:23 20:25 154 1
15 BTT BHATNI JN 1 20:40 20:45 165 1
16 NRA NUNKHAR 1 20:53 20:55 172 1 Train doesn't halt at this station, presently
17 DEOS DEORIA SADAR 1 21:08 21:10 186 1
18 GB GAURI BAZAR 1 21:28 21:30 201 1
19 CC CHAURI CHAURA 1 21:41 21:43 211 1
20 GKP GORAKHPUR JN 1 22:35 23:00 236 1
21 GKY GORAKHPUR CITY 1 23:05 23:07 240 1 Train doesn't halt at this station, presently
22 DMG DOMINGARH 1 23:11 23:13 241 1
23 JTB JAGATBELA 1 23:23 23:25 247 1
24 SWA SAHJANWA 1 23:34 23:36 254 1
25 MHH MAGHAR 1 23:46 23:48 262 1
26 KLD KHALILABAD 1 00:00 00:02 270 2
27 BST BASTI 1 00:26 00:31 300 2
28 BV BABHNAN 1 00:54 00:56 331 2
29 MSW MASKANWA 1 01:13 01:15 348 2
30 MUR MANKAPUR JN 1 01:30 01:32 361 2
31 GD GONDA JN 1 01:55 02:10 390 2
32 CLJ COLONELGANJ 1 02:32 02:34 418 2
33 JLD JARWAL ROAD 1 02:50 02:52 435 2
34 BUW BURHWAL 1 03:31 03:33 451 2
35 BBK BARABANKI JN 1 04:20 04:22 478 2
36 GTNR GOMATI NAGAR 1 04:45 04:47 498 2
37 BNZ BADSHAHNAGAR 1 04:58 05:00 503 2
38 LC LUCKNOW CITY 1 05:16 05:18 509 2
39 LJN LUCKNOW 1 05:45 Destination 515 2
===========
##Lucknow Station is divided into two portions. One portion comes under the jurisdiction of North Eastern Railway, coded as LJN, and another portion comes under Northern Railway coded as LKO.
---
##The 4203/4204 runs between Varanasi (BSB) and Lucknow (LKO), that is entirely within NR jurisdiction.
===========

sandrinella · Oct 29th, 2007, 18:32

Thanks everyone!
It finally worked and I got all my train tickets. First I was stuck with no return ticket to one of my destinations, because exactly then, the system was down again, but on the next day I was lucky enough to also got the last one needed

It might have also been, because I tried to get the Ladies Quota (even though I don't know what exactly this is, but figured, I am a girl so I should click on Ladies Quota)...
With the General Quota it all worked fine in the end.

India, here I come (in 2.5 weeks)

teliciabel · Oct 29th, 2007, 19:59

Thanks Mickey S and Sandrinella and all of you that help people preparing their journeys around India!
I am printing my ticket now! After more than one week trying, finally with your comments I did it!
I read Sandrinella's post and I choose general quota tooo, instead of ladies quota! And you will not believe, it really worked! So girls, don't choose ladies! It will not work! I think if there are women traveling alone they will put them with other women not with men alone! well let see!
Thanks for all of you

Oct 22nd, 2007, 22:06	#1
sandrinella Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: germany Posts: 24	Train booking nightmare?! Hello friends, I have tried on many different days and times of the day to book a ticket on IRCTC but somehow I never manage to get it right and have no clue why... When clicking on the e-ticket button, I get the message: "Only Confirmed/RAC ticket booked. Ticket can be booked only up to the time of charting" What exactly does this mean? When checking on the trains (I want to book BCY to LJN on Nov 21st, CC) the message I ALWAYS get says: "Could not retrieve train list. Selected Class/Date combination has no trains. Please select different Date/Class combination." When I look on the Indian Railway website this connection (train 4203) very well exists... Am I overlooking something here, or am I just too stupid to book a train ticket?

Oct 29th, 2007, 16:45	#7
teliciabel Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Portugal Posts: 3	irctc e-tickets :( Yes this is very frustrating! I am trying for more than one week buying a ticket and I get always the same error: "Unable to retrieve due comunication failure" Or any other error! This is so annoying! I think the tickets will exhaust before I can buy one! But one good thing is this Forum, since I found it it became easier to deal with a couple of things about traveling in india

Oct 29th, 2007, 19:59	#14
teliciabel Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Portugal Posts: 3	Thanks to this forum! Thanks Mickey S and Sandrinella and all of you that help people preparing their journeys around India! I am printing my ticket now! After more than one week trying, finally with your comments I did it! I read Sandrinella's post and I choose general quota tooo, instead of ladies quota! And you will not believe, it really worked! So girls, don't choose ladies! It will not work! I think if there are women traveling alone they will put them with other women not with men alone! well let see! Thanks for all of you

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Oct 22nd, 2007, 22:23	#3
sandrinella Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: germany Posts: 24	that can't be... I have checked it over and over... I will try with BSB and LKO... Thanks a million!

Oct 24th, 2007, 14:53	#4
sandrinella Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: germany Posts: 24	Now that I got the correct station codes (big thanks to steven_ber) I have been trying for the last days almost any hour of the day to book my train ticket, but I only get as far as entering passengers, etc and then I get the message: "Unable to retrieve due to communication failure." Does anybody know the reason by any chance? Is it the website? My computer?

Oct 24th, 2007, 14:58	#5
Mickey S Maha Guru Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Cymru Posts: 1,175	It's not your computer, and you're not alone. IRCTC is by far the most frustrating and unreliable website I have ever used. All you can do is keep trying.

Oct 25th, 2007, 05:34	#6
Travellerette travellerette Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada Posts: 117	When I got the "unable to retrieve due to communication failure" messege this is what seemed to help: I went to http://www.indianrail.gov.in/ and found the train that I wanted. Once I knew the availability, I went to the IRCTC site and chose 'quickbook' on the left side of the screen. I entered my info.. and presto - it worked! I tried this a couple times - and it seemed to get around the error messege. Good luck !

Oct 29th, 2007, 17:07	#8
teliciabel Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Portugal Posts: 3	Once I arrived to the payment option in the e-ticket booking from irctc, but again I wasn't able to continue because of the choosen payment option, I think! Do you know among the payment options, the one I should choose if I want to pay by visa card like MBnet? Thank you

Oct 29th, 2007, 18:03	#10
vmehra24 Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ahmedabad Posts: 205	At least it never overbooks and the Customer Support is prompt. Which is more than what can be said of many travel sites. A friend of mine was badly burned by makemytrip.com a couple of years ago and is still waiting for a refund.

Oct 29th, 2007, 18:09	#11
vsp27759 V.SRINIVASA PRASAD Join Date: May 2005 Location: HYDERABAD Posts: 1,670	Dear Sandrinella, There could be problem with your Internet Connection. Kindly check this also.

Oct 29th, 2007, 18:28	#12
vsp27759 V.SRINIVASA PRASAD Join Date: May 2005 Location: HYDERABAD Posts: 1,670	Dear Sandrinella, The Train No.5007/5008 provide direct travel facility between Varanasi City (BCY) and Lucknow Junction (LJN). Please look at this: ---- You Queried For Train No Train Name Date Runs From Source Runs On 5007 MUV LJN EXPRESS 29/10/2007 MANDUADIH MON TUE WED THU FRI SAT SUN SNo Stn Code Stn Name Route No. Arrival Time Dep. Time Distance Day Remark 1 MUV MANDUADIH 1 Source 16:45 0 1 2 BSB VARANASI JN 1 16:55 17:00 4 1 3 BCY VARANASI CITY 1 17:06 17:08 7 1 4 SRNT SARNATH 1 17:19 17:21 12 1 5 ARJ AUNRIHAR JN 1 17:47 17:49 39 1 6 SDT SADAT 1 18:07 18:09 58 1 7 JKN JAKHANIAN 1 18:19 18:21 67 1 8 DLR DULLAHAPUR 1 18:30 18:32 76 1 9 MAU MAU JN 1 18:51 18:56 97 1 10 IAA INDARA JN 1 19:08 19:10 105 1 11 KER KIRIHRAPUR 1 19:21 19:23 118 1 12 BLTR BELTHARA ROAD 1 19:41 19:43 132 1 13 LRD LAR ROAD 1 19:57 19:59 145 1 14 SRU SALEMPUR JN 1 20:23 20:25 154 1 15 BTT BHATNI JN 1 20:40 20:45 165 1 16 NRA NUNKHAR 1 20:53 20:55 172 1 Train doesn't halt at this station, presently 17 DEOS DEORIA SADAR 1 21:08 21:10 186 1 18 GB GAURI BAZAR 1 21:28 21:30 201 1 19 CC CHAURI CHAURA 1 21:41 21:43 211 1 20 GKP GORAKHPUR JN 1 22:35 23:00 236 1 21 GKY GORAKHPUR CITY 1 23:05 23:07 240 1 Train doesn't halt at this station, presently 22 DMG DOMINGARH 1 23:11 23:13 241 1 23 JTB JAGATBELA 1 23:23 23:25 247 1 24 SWA SAHJANWA 1 23:34 23:36 254 1 25 MHH MAGHAR 1 23:46 23:48 262 1 26 KLD KHALILABAD 1 00:00 00:02 270 2 27 BST BASTI 1 00:26 00:31 300 2 28 BV BABHNAN 1 00:54 00:56 331 2 29 MSW MASKANWA 1 01:13 01:15 348 2 30 MUR MANKAPUR JN 1 01:30 01:32 361 2 31 GD GONDA JN 1 01:55 02:10 390 2 32 CLJ COLONELGANJ 1 02:32 02:34 418 2 33 JLD JARWAL ROAD 1 02:50 02:52 435 2 34 BUW BURHWAL 1 03:31 03:33 451 2 35 BBK BARABANKI JN 1 04:20 04:22 478 2 36 GTNR GOMATI NAGAR 1 04:45 04:47 498 2 37 BNZ BADSHAHNAGAR 1 04:58 05:00 503 2 38 LC LUCKNOW CITY 1 05:16 05:18 509 2 39 LJN LUCKNOW 1 05:45 Destination 515 2 =========== ##Lucknow Station is divided into two portions. One portion comes under the jurisdiction of North Eastern Railway, coded as LJN, and another portion comes under Northern Railway coded as LKO. --- ##The 4203/4204 runs between Varanasi (BSB) and Lucknow (LKO), that is entirely within NR jurisdiction. ===========

Oct 29th, 2007, 18:32	#13
sandrinella Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: germany Posts: 24	Thanks everyone! It finally worked and I got all my train tickets. First I was stuck with no return ticket to one of my destinations, because exactly then, the system was down again, but on the next day I was lucky enough to also got the last one needed It might have also been, because I tried to get the Ladies Quota (even though I don't know what exactly this is, but figured, I am a girl so I should click on Ladies Quota)... With the General Quota it all worked fine in the end. India, here I come (in 2.5 weeks)

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