https://indianrail.gov.in/
This is the official web site of the Indian Railways and provides a vast storehouse of Information at a click.
Train Fare :
This is a great facility to budget your travel expenses before hand. Provides easy computation of fare between two cities including Superfast charges and reservation charges along with distance in kilometers.
Train Schedule :
A great feature that provides complete details on the variety of trains that ply between two destinations and on which days of the week along with the departure and arrival timing. Gives you a choice.
Also features information on special trains.
An Updated Time table.
And a general layout of seats and berths in the coach.
Accommodation availability :
This is a very useful feature that solves our greatest headache of finding out whether our waitlisted tickets have confirmed or have reached the RAC status. Eliminates the need of the innumerable calls that we make to reservation enquiry number with no definite response other than ’Please wait-You are in Queue’
Tele Booking :
This is a great new feature wherein one can make reservations and book tickets on the phone. Presently available only in Delhi soon to be launched in many more metro cities. Requires a Rail Credit Card from the Standard Chartered Bank. Very soon to accept all major credit cards after the tie-up.
RULES :
Another very helpful section that details rules and regulations and educates us on the dos and don’ts while travelling. Like baggage allowance, Refund rules, deduction of cancellation charges, Senior citizen concessions, circular journey and break-journey and a lot more.
Special Trains :
Provides information on trains like the Rajdhani, Shatabdi, the Hill trains, holiday specials and the Tatkal Trains.
I also found a beautiful map depicting the railway lines connecting every remote corner of the country on this site under ’Railway Network Map’
A very useful link is the Internet Reservation Link which takes you to https://irctc.co.in and is a wonderful feature wherein you can book your tickets online in the comfort of your home and office and have it courierred to you. Rs.30/- per ticket besides the service charges of the credit card issuing Bank.
I have booked tickets online both to and fro (return journey) and I was pleasantly surprised at their efficiency. I was promised home delivery of tickets and lo behold ! The tickets arrived from Delhi by courier to my residence within 24 hours !(They had promised 36 hours) Considering Indian standards this is exemplary and deserves the highest compliments.
These ’E-Tickets’ can be cancelled at normal booking counters anywhere but the refund proceeds are credited to your credit card a/c only and no cash refunds are available. Tickets cannot be cancelled on the net(not at present at least)
Check the areas of delivery before booking. The site is slow but I guess this is but expected. One can directly visit this site and one must register oneself before making any online bookings. It also provides most of the basic information that you would require for planning your itinerary.
It took me some time to get used to these sites due to the sheer size and scale of information provided. But I must complement the creators that its a job well done and a lot of pain and effort has been taken to address most queries that any traveller may have.
I think its a tremendous achievement and will go a long way towards making reservations more easier and convenient besides saving me a trip to the Railway Station to book a ticket. It also eliminates the touts and booking agents who usually mislead the gullible public.
(c) Rajasagar
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