Well, I started using this site two years before and guys this site has been truly amazing. Sitting at the convenience of your office/home, it takes just a few minutes to get your booking time.
And whats amazing is that you can enquire abt all the available options before proceeding for booking. There will be no one behind you yelling that you are taking a long time.
Its also truly a customer’s delight that you get the choices of your berth.
There are two choices . one is the e-ticket, where you have the option of booking your ticket just as in any airline reservation online, by providing a ID card and then taking the printout from your place.
and you can book the tickets till the time of chart preparation(4 -6 hrs before departure of train)
The i-ticket is a physical ticket where the ticket gets delivered at your doorstep. For this, you need to have three clear days for booking. For e.g. to book a e-ticket on 4, you have to book on 1st.
The charges are Rs.40/- for i-ticket and Rs.25/- for e-ticket.
You can book your e-tickets only if they are in CONFIRMED / RAC Status
One good feature about the e-ticket is that you can reprint the ticket at any time. But ofcourse very recently they have changed this conditon. you can reprint your ticket only up to the time of charting. Not sure abt the logic, but this looks somewhat stupid to me as your confirmed tickets are not going to change after chart preparation.
It makes all sense that you cannot modify / cancel your e-ticket after charting, but you have to be allowed to print your ticket.
Also you cannot cancel your e-ticket once the chart is prepared. So beware you gotto to cancel it before 4-6 hours before the departure of train. And for some trains starting very early in the day, the chart is prepared the previous night.
Now I wanted to share a couple of my experiences with this site & railways.
1) Not able to print ticket after chart preparation
I had booked a ticket from chennai to bangalore by bangalore mail( starting 11.15PM chennai). At 8.30 I tried to print my e-ticket, which didnot work. I went to the Station master(guys believe me one of the Asst. Station master asked me what is a e-ticket!) and he said nothing can be done much without the print out. Fortunately I had the email from IRCTC abt my ticket details(your ID card details, train number, PNR etc are clearly mentioned in the mail). I took the print out of that mail and went the TTE of the coach and explained him of the situation and he understood and allowed me to travel in the same berth after checking my ID. So ppl, just in case if you dont have the printout just dont panic, get the mail printed and approach the TTE.
2) Not able to cancel e-ticket
I had booked a ticket for three of us on the day before diwali. the train was at 9.30 and since there was huge traffic jam, we could reach only at 9.38 by the time which the train had left. The ticket amount was more and I just couldn’t ignore it. I know e-tickets cannot be cancelled across the counter. so I wrote a mail to care@irctc.co.in explaining them the situation. Guys I got the response within two days and was informed that my case was taking into consideration and processed in the normal cancellation channel(after the train had left). I know it takes months to get refund, but from nothing I am able to get something. So just in case if you are not able to travel through e-ticket, you can always cancel them if your reason for non trave is genuine.
3) Carrying of original ID
Some TTE’s ask for original ID for verification. But ppl, this is really unnecessay. No where there is written in the ticket that you should carry original ID. You are allowed to carry the photostat copy of your ID. Only condition is it has to be a photo ID and should match with the number given at the time of booking. And know what, this was informed to me by one of the TTE’s.
4) Duplicate i-ticket
I recently lost my i-ticket . I am not sure about the normal duplicate ticket process, but what I did was to take the copy of the IRCTC mail (sent after you book your ticket sucessfully) and then approached the station master( you can go to any counter near by your place) . He verified the details and issed me a duplicate ticket on payment of Rs.20/-
Its really commendable that the Railways have come out with a unique concept of e-ticketing and its in our best of interests that we use this more. Its saves huge amount of time, gives you the comfort of sitting in your house and booking upto 11 PM and also you can start booking from 4AM in the morning(except of tatkal tickets where booking starts at 8 AM). And for whatever reasons my payment is not done, I have always been refunded within 4 days.
I have been fascinated with the concept. do you?