Waitlist

Hi everyone - we have purchased train tickets to Shimla from Kalka on the Toy Train " Shivalik Deluxe Express "

The E- tickets we hold are 34 WL, 35WL, 36WL & 37WL for 2nd Oct 08. ( almost 2 months from now ).

Does any one know what are the chances of us getting on?

Really appreciate anyone's opinion on this. Thanks

I've no time now, but I really must look into this, I think you're the 3 person in the last few weeks to get EXACTLY the same waitlist numbers.

And I thought the train could only be booked 30 days in advance?????

Hiya Steven Ber

Thx so much for replying...have seen you are the guru on the trains situation. many many thx.. we were wondering if we needed to think of alternative plans if we are unable to guarantee a place on the train... Realise you are busy and look forward to receiving an answer to the waiting list query when you get a chance..

Thx muchly Scorpio 28

Hello Scorpio

Do you know that there's plenty of availability for the 1st October.

For the 2nd, there is still the full quota of 8 seats available using the foreign tourist quota (FTQ), but you can only purchase these tickets at a foreign tourist window in India.

It's difficult to say if your tickets will get confirmed, it looks like the start of a busy period for that train, maybe someone with experience of waitlists for that train will be able to inform you more accuratly.

I don't know what other quotas (that we wouldn't know about are used for that train, because any unused quota seats (like the FTQ) are used to reduce the waitlist. (when the reservation chart is prepared, the evening before for this train)

If I had those tickets, I'd keep them, though I still wouldn't know if they would become confirmed, I guess a lot depends on how many people cancel, I'd be a lot more confident if I got down to WL 10/11/12....a week before the train was due to depart.

But anyway, keep the tickets for now.

Train 251 departs kalka at 06:00, it has First Class (not air con) seats, booking doesn't open till 1st September for this train, be ready to book by 08:00 India time, by 08:03 all the tickets may be gone, this train would be a good back-up option, and if you manage to get seats, you can see how the waitlist goes in the other train and decide what train to use a few days before you are due to travel, then just get a refund on the tickets you dont want to use, the refund charges are very low.

Hi Steven Ber

Thx for your prompt reply... we may also look at the Himalayan Queen Express that leaves Kalka later that day and arrives in Shimla in the afternoon. The write ups seem quite good...

So I guess we will hold on to the original tickets/booking and see nearer the time if we get guaranteed a seat, but at least you have given us a good insight into how things are.

By the way this is really my first time of posting anything on India Mike and I notice that on the bottom left hand corner of the posting is a warning triangle.. that says report post (if you hover your cursor over it) - can you enlighten me???

Thx again Scorpio 28

A Moderator replies...

That causes the entire system to self-destruct in three minutes.

Seriously...

If you see a post that you think is offensive, or breaks any of the forum rules, click this triangle and the post is automatically brought to the attention of the moderating team for consideration. This is the internet, people post all kinds of advertising and unpleasant stuff, or sometimes just get into fights with each other.

We can't be everywhere on the board all the time, and appreciate it when people let us know that something is wrong.

Closing this older thread to avoid confusion with potential wait list queries