train tickets AFTER you arrive?

Lea

Seems like everyone's suggesting to book train tickets ahead of time before you land in India, but has anyone actually bought train tickets from a counter window at the train station? Is it really as hard of a task as people say? surely not everyone in India is a scammer right???

machadinha

It's very doable. You'd normally want to arrange it a day or two ahead though, since you'll only be going for two weeks this might be a complication, and it could involve a couple of hours each time. Scamming is not the issue here, you're dealing with railway personnel. It's more a matter of time. Since you seem to have a fixed itinerary in mind what you could do is book all those tickets at once at the Delhi station, you'd then be stuck to those dates and times of course. New Delhi railway station has a special tourist counter that can work it out with you. People make a big fuss about how hard to find it is but it's just upstairs, ignore all the touts who'll tell you it's closed or burned down and just walk up there. They're very efficient. Buying a ticket as you go is normally not an option, although you can probably get a place in unreserved class which can work for shorter distances. Can be jampacked or empty, you never know.

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dan37_123

Hi,
After travelling in India extensive, i came to realize why it took 200 years for the British to plunder such a beautiful country. Its vast, huge, rich and inhabited by some of the most wonderful people you can find in the universe.

Just take the fact that, British used Indians to fulfil its bloody imperial ambitions. So Indias are some of the most hospitable people i came across. So to find REAL INDIA you have to move away from the tourist ciruits and ventrue into its villages.

So the answer is:
1. Indians are not scammers.
2. Germans are not nazis
3. Italians are not mafiosi
etc., etc.,

So, in my opinion, its best to book your tickets online, it saves you lot of time. But if you want to buy the ticket at the counter, in itself its an adventure, its worth its. But I dont think you want to do it over again, so buy all your tickets the first time u r at the counter.

Good luck
Dan

monkgonemad

for what its worth - id never buy before i arrive...

my plans can change - if so, it wastes not saves time (and lose money)
i dont trust any internet site with my card
dont trust india merchants with my card
i have to go thru hassle of finding the ticket merchant AND pay for the transport there and back.

i thnk its a big loser unless its direct from th eindian rway and then - you still have the card issue.

or ... i can just go to the station and get the tickets...ez peazy.



same with rooms - never have i pre booked. whats the worst that can come of it?

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dan37_123

Vow, so much about trust. The trian tickets in India are booked through the indian railways online reservation systems, therefore merchants or middle men are involved.

As far as the cancellation is concrened, i too was very skeptical till i did it two months ago in Mumbai. To my surprised the cancellation process went very fast and smooth, and even more suprising was that the money was credited to my credit card instantaeneously.

Good luck.

Dan

guerik

Booking online is handy if you're planning to flee the city soon after you arrive or want to spend your first day or two relaxing or doing something pleasant instead of dealing with the crowds at the station.

If you've got a couple of days before you have to leave town, and there are either a lot of seats on your wanted train or a lot of trains on that route, it's easy enough to book tickets - particularly if you use the foreigners counter at New Delhi station, you just fill in the form and wait in an orderly queue (and you can sit down) until your turn comes up. In my experience the clerks there have pretty good English so it's easy to ask questions etc, you can even pay with Travellers Cheques or (some) foreign currencies!
If you're not using the foreigner's counter it's still pretty much the same process, but generally without the orderly queue. You will probably have a harder time asking any questions here and as far as I'm aware you can't book tickets from the foreigners quota (though someone will quickly correct that if I'm wrong).


If you want your trip to be fully flexible then it might suit you to wait to book the tickets in person, but if you're happy to plan ahead or really want to make sure you get your seat, the internet could be worth a try.

Bas, hain na?

thirdreel

Both online booking and station booking have benefits and drawbacks. I did a number of online bookings before I came, then had to cancel some--you really don't know how this place is going to throw wrenches into your best-laid plans, so you may find your itinerary flip-flopping, and you'll need to wait in lines at the station for refunds. My cancellation was kind of difficult, but in part I think it was the assistance I had--a hotel worker went with me to help me get the refund, but was confused by the "internet booking," so he took me to several wrong counters before I myself looked around for the Internet Booking counter.

The train station is not full of scammers but it will be replete with bureaucrats. Don't be surprised if you wait in a particular line and, once you get to the front, find that you've been in the wrong line all the time, or didn't pick up the correct form, or didn't fill it out correctly. But the other people in line might be helpful and friendly, once they've gotten up the nerve to talk to you. You will find that everyone wants to get to the front of the line fast, but that's no surprise.

davey

book online it save such a fuss, I even went to Delhi railway station all prepared for the scammers and the Bast#*^&s let me down so do it online thats why so many IM suggest it

Alchemy

Never bothered with online booking.

It's really only worthwile if you're pressed for time and have an itinerary that's set in stone -- but part of the fascination of travelling in India surely is to drift a little and plan as you go.

I've never, ever, had a problem getting to where I wanted to go, when I wanted to go. Buying at the station is a piece of cake, at bigger stations there are inevitably windows for foreigners or Tourist Bureaus, and if you're confused about where to go, walk straight into the Station Manager's office and ask for help. They've always been utterly helpful.

If you really can't be bothered, pay a small fee and have your guesthouse book the ticket for you.

machadinha

Agree with most of the above; if however the OP is going for just two weeks as in this post this is something to take into consideration. I've seldom had trouble booking as I went, however it does happen and you wouldn't want that on a tight trip. Since almost all of these are relatively short trips buses (state or private) are always a good alternative if the trains are full btw so there's very little chance of getting stuck. Or rather they can be a good alternative period since they're often easier to get a hold of and generally travel faster, at least short-distance. Another plus is you can often book and board the private buses close by to the hotel areas with any of the travel agents that abound, whereas the station may be further away. With the buses, too, you'd still want to book preferably a day ahead or so though. For Varanasi I'd certainly catch a night train.

But in short the booking itself isn't difficult, although it can be time-consuming. Millions have gone before you in pre-internet booking days :-P

Anders

I would book ahead of time if I was going for only 2 weeks.

freemanx

Hi Lea,

it depends if you don´t mind waiting a few hours or a day at one place if you can´t get a seat immediately.
if you are flexible with train classes your chances are much higher to get a seat if you just walk up to the counter to buy your ticket, or if you don´t mind taking the next train if the first one is full. actually i allways got a seat when i did it this way.
if everything is fully booked you can still buy 2nd class unreserved but you might not find a seat in the crowded compartment. but than... you are a tourist and everyone in 2nd unreserved will notice immediately and chances are high that someone will offer you a seat
if you do a day trip from agra to fethepur sikri it´s not necessary at all to make a reservation. just buy 2nd unr., it´s just a short trip.

but one thing to keep in mind, there might be a big croud at the counter and everyone wants his ticket first, so be prepared

martin

Casey

The last time I was in India I had no problem getting train tickets whenever I wanted them. There was always a seat. This was in Oct-Nov 2000. This time I am arriving in Delhi rather than Mumbai. From what I have been reading it is best to pre-book tickets. I will be travelling in January and wondering what the odds are of being able to get a train out of Delhi, either to Varanassi or to Udaipur depending on which way I want to go first. Should I arrange for tickets before hand or just book when I get there. As I said, I never had any problems before but perhaps it was Oct./Nov.

jens

I canceled tickets no problem but it can be quite time consuming.

I also would tend to buy tickets not in advance but echo the sentiments that it might be unrealistic with only two weeks. I would try to sort out the schedule at least.

Some people say to book in the Delhi Station b/c they have the tourist helpful people but I found the helpfulness quotient wildly variable...

....mmmm.... Our first and most blatant (and annoying) rip-off happened in Delhi when our change (< $10 US) was not returned. We were tired, and just came from our flight. We were bummed we hadn't been in India that long... At another station we also encountered the...oh you have two minutes to catch the train, suddenly the change draw is missing all the proper rupees, sorry, tactic....at a train station. Just keep you wits about you, count your change, insist on your change unless your feeling generous. Train stations always have a lot of helpful and friendly people around...

Selfdefinition

I'm going for two months and I'm having the save problem deciding whether to buy beforehand. But I like to keep things as open as possible, so I think I'm going to risk it in Delhi and buy at the station when I arrive. If it takes an afternoon or even day or two, I figure that's just all part of the adventure...