UKC

Anyone used the website to book tickets? Can I as a non Indian national use the website to book tickets? It looks like it was cobbled together with HTML 1.0 and a Geocities account, quele surprise!! Can't wait to get there and have my faith in humanity restored.

D

In reply to Dauphin:


There's more to life than websites.


All I can tell you is that the Indian train system is great, and that it works.

Have a good trip, whatever you're planning. If you relax, and let the place come to you, things'll work out.

In reply to Rob Parsons:

its not really great except in scope, works, well after a fashion. I've spent months and months there over the years so the post was tongue in cheek, the carnival of death and grinding poverty does kinda grow on you, man

D

In reply to Dauphin:

I was in India about 6 months ago. As far as I can remember we always had to go to the station to book tickets. You can do all of your research on their website but I think you have to go to the station and fill in a form to book a ticket. Make sure you fill in the form before you join the (sometimes painfully long) queue or you'll get given a form and sent to the back. There's normally a line for locals and a line for tourists which helps.

Getting the train was one of the highlights of my time there. For me it's the best country I've ever been to. "Give in to India" and you'll have an amazing time.

All the best.

In reply to Dauphin:

The Indian railways website is preparing you for India

You do not need to go to the station and can do it all online but it is very quirky.
There is a thread on the wonderful indiamike.com that can help. (But be prepared, it runs to hundreds of pages!)

In reply to Dauphin:

I tried and gave up, ended up getting them at the station in the end

In reply to Dauphin:
Firstly many Indian people using the trains now do use the website. Secondly you'll be surprised how many Indians have smart phones now a days!

The Indian railways website does not work with foreign most foreign debit or credit cards. However this is a way around this! The website is called clear trip and they have a smart phone app. You do have to jump through a few hoops to set up an account but it works! Also it's much much easier to book trains on clear trip than the Indian Railways site.

Here's what you need to do Its laid out here. It takes a good few days to get sorted (but only an hour or so of your time)

http://www.indiamike.com/india-articles/setting-up-your-irctc-and-cleartrip...

I did this and it saved me a bunch of hassle planning trips and booking on to wait lists. However when I tried to book tacul tickets the clear trip site always incorrectly said the India railways site was down in the critical time 8-10 do to do this you'll need to use an agent and pay a fee or go all the way to a station.

Clear trip fees are extremely minimal and it's super easy to cancel at the last minute.

Most Indians book on to the busy trains months in advance and then cancel if they change there mind - I suggest you book as early as possible in to busy trains that you critically need to be on. However I found generally you will get a seat on trains nearer the time using the tourist quota or tacul systems but that's more hassle and more expensive to do. Also playing the wait list gamble normally works if there are less than 10 people on it.

If you haven't I suggest you have a good research on the Indian railway system before going - it's pretty good and cheap but quite different to ours

In reply to Dauphin:

I was last there 3 years ago and used Clear Trip [ http://www.cleartrip.com/trains ] and it was pretty straightforward, even confused the guards on some trains showing him the electronic ticket on my phone.

I'd also always buy a paper copy of 'Trains at a Glance' for a few rupees just so I can see an overview of the whole network

shubh yatra !!

In reply to Dauphin:

Brilliant just what I was after, thanks people. Too many near meltdowns trying to book trains on last visits. Some were easy, others ridiculous, don't like the office in Dehli which is where I'm arriving.

D

In reply to Dauphin:

New Delhi station has a Foreigners' Reservation office upstairs, very chilled and air-conditioned, but you have to pay in foreign currency. As you walk towards the building from Pahar Ganj everyone will tell you it's closed, burnt down, you're heading the wrong way etc, but if you head into the main foyer and then turn right towards the stairs, it's on the first floor...

It's been there (unchanged) for at least the last 20 years, so no reason to suspect it's not still there.
---
I could just be there right now

In reply to Dauphin:
The Seat 61 website might also help: http://www.seat61.com/India.htm Edit: There's even a step-by-step guide to booking Indian train tickets online: http://www.seat61.com/India.htm#book%20-%20from%20outside

I've no experience of India, but I've found Seat 61 incredibly useful in general.

Mehmet

In reply to Rob Parsons:

Great reply. I was quite worried about Indian trains but I totally agree with you on letting go

In reply to Iwan7689:
Relaxing being intuitive and going with the flow doesn't preclude booking trains on your phone without having to use and travel to an expensive agent or traveling to the nearest train station which could be quite a long way.

It allows you to have more time to discover things and should also help you visit places you really want to go and be more flexible about it too.

In reply to CurlyStevo:

C'mon a mate, chill. They've been to India and experienced a royal f*ck around from morning to repast for weeks if not onths on end so qualified as Ninjas and able to dispense advice about whether I should waste days of life trying to book train tickets sweating my nuts of in ticket office with the non queue. Its all good as they say.

D

In reply to Dauphin:

Yeah just back from India earlier this year - loved it!

Seems like you may have misread my posts, I was the first person to advise you about Cleartrip!

In reply to Dauphin:

I found buying a train ticket in Delhi a nightmare. The booking clerk told me there was no space available at any time, and then tried to sell me a coach ticket on a coach owned by his "brother"......

In reply to CurlyStevo:

I was agreeing with you. Thanks for the advice re Cleartrip.

D

In reply to Dauphin:
Another thread post which guides to make Indian railways at http://irctcloginpage.in/irctc-reservation-login-timings-booking-and-status... and its online process. Great to shows step by step process to book an e-ticket online and IRCTC registration procedure.Thanks for sharing this post.

In reply to Trangia:


There are some little known reserved lists that it can be possible to get on, these include: "emergency" and "VIP" reservations. Each station has a number of reservations available. If you're doing a relatively short (by Indian standards) journey it can be worth going on unreserved 3rd class.