Advance Reservation
Advance Reservation
To help you plan your journey well in advance, Indian Railways offer you the facility of Advance Reservation. About 97% of the advance reservation centres are computerised, making it possible for you to book your ticket from anywhere to anywhere. Given below are the answers to your questions on advance reservation, changes in travel plans, booking of special trains/carriages, etc.
Can I book a ticket from Nagpur to Bangalore at Howrah? Yes, you can. In fact, you can book your ticket for any train on the Indian Railways network, from any originating station to any destination* at any of the 2926 Computerised Reservation Centres, across the country. With the network of New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Secunderabad and Chennai Passenger Reservation Systems, you can now book your onward and return journey tickets from any Computerised Reservation Centre nearest to you - not just from major railway stations. This networking makes reservation of tickets faster and simpler. Reserved tickets can also be obtained by accessing the website www.irctc.co.in. Payments can be made directly through the website. Please follow the instructions posted on the website and on Page 301 *Reservations can be made subject to distance restrictions and availability of quotas How many days in advance can I reserve my ticket? You can reserve your ticket 90 days in advance, excluding the date of journey at the train originating station. At intermediate stations where the train arrives the following day, reservation can be done 91 days in advance. In the case of some intercity day express trains, the advance reservation period is less. How do I know the reservation status of my ticket? The reservation status will be clearly indicated in your ticket. If your ticket is confirmed, your coach and berth numbers will be mentioned on your ticket in all classes other than First Class and AC First Class. For these, the
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word Confirmed, will be printed alongside the class of travel. If your ticket is in RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation) / Waitlisted status, the same will be mentioned on the ticket. Note: Passengers are requested to kindly note that while every effort will be made to ensure a comfortable, hassle-free journey, Indian Railways are not liable to compensate a passenger due to non-provision of reserved accommodation or for any losses suffered due to late running of trains and other such unintended eventualities which are not wilful or deliberately perpetrated. Can I board the train with an RAC? You can board the train with an RAC ticket. You will be provided with sitting accommodation initially and allotted a berth (in case of passengers not turning up) in the train. How can I board a train in the reserved coach if I am not able to get a waitlisted ticket? Yes. If you dont have any ticket, you may approach the Train Superintendent/TTE after purchasing an unreserved ticket from the booking office as specified in the following table. The TTE will allot the accommodation, subject to availability.
Min. Class of Ticket required for boarding the train at originating and intermediate Stations 1st Class Ordinary
Category of Train
Class of Travel
i) Rajdhani/Shatabdi
ACC, 25
1st Class Ordinary 2nd Mail/Express 1st Class Ordinary 2nd Mail/Express 2nd Mail/Express
iii) Mail/Express
3A, CC
However, in case you have a second class ticket and could not get reservation in sleeper class and desire to travel in any upper class, you may approach the on-board ticket checking staff, who can upgrade your ticket accordingly subject to availability of accommodation except in Rajdhani/Shatabdi Express trains. How do I find out the current status of my unconfirmed ticket ? You can contact the Reservation Enquiry Counters at your nearest Computerised Reservation Centre or call the Interactive Voice Response System, available at major stations. Remember to always quote the 10 digit PNR Number indicated on the upper left hand corner of your ticket, to find out the current status. The current status of your ticket can also be obtained from the Indian Railways Passenger Information Website: www.indianrailways.gov.in. This site also provides real-time information relating to availability of seats (and berths in a train even between a pair of stations), timetable and train fares etc. For general information on Indian Railways, passengers can access the Indian Railways website : www.indianrailways. gov.in Indian Railways provide telephonic enquiry services through a universal number 139 which is accessible from any where in the country without dialing any STD code. This number can be accessed from any type of phone (mobile, landline, WLL etc). Information with regard to arrival/departure/running position of trains, accommodation availability, current status of ticket, fare enquiry etc. are disseminated through this number. After getting connected to 139, the information with regard to arrival/departure of a train at a particular station can be obtained by dialing the train no. and STD code of that station. Facility of Enquiry by sending SMS on 139 The current status of the ticket, status of arrival/departure of train, availability of train accommodation, fare enquiry, etc. can also be obtained by sending SMS to 139. For details kindly visit website www.irctc.co.in Am I required to carry proof of Identity during journey in AC Classes ? Anyone of the passengers/the passenger booked on the tickets issued from computerised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) and internet (i-ticket), undertaking journey in AC-3 tier, AC-2 tier, 1st AC, AC Chair Car and Executive classes, have to carry anyone of the nine prescribed proofs of identity (in original) during the journey and produce the same as and when required failing which all the passengers booked on that ticket will be treated as without ticket and charged accordingly. The list of valid proofs of identity are as under: Voter Photo identity card issued by Election Commission of India. Passport. PAN Card issued by Income Tax Department. Driving Licence issued by RTO. Photo identity card having serial number issued by Central/State Government. Student Identity Card with photograph issued by recognized School/ College for their students. Nationalised Bank Passbook with photograph. Credit Cards issued by Banks with laminated photograph and Unique Identification Card Aadhaar. NOTE : This provision is applicable to General tickets and not Tatkal, which are governed by separate instructions. Tatkal Scheme The salient features of existing Tatkal scheme are as under:a. Tatkal booking opens at 8 AM on the previous day of journey excluding date of journey from the train originating station. For example, if train is to depart from the originating station on the
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b.
c. d.
e.
f.
second of the month, the Tatkal quota for that particular train shall open at 0800 hours on the first of the month. The reservation under this scheme is available only upto the time of preparation of charts. At the time of preparation of charts, the vacant Tatkal accommodation is released to the RAC/waitlisted passengers and no Tatkal charges are realised from such passengers. The facility of change of name is not permitted on the bookings made under Tatkal scheme. No duplicate Tatkal tickets is issued. Duplicate Tatkal tickets is issued only in exceptional cases on payment of full fare including Tatkal charges. The reservation under this scheme can be sought by full fare paving passengers only and no passenger holding concessional ticket is allowed to avail reservation under this scheme. Tatkal tickets are issued only on production of one of the nine prescribed proofs of identity as mentioned below and passenger should carry the same proof of identity(in original) during the journey failing which all the passengers booked on that ticket are considered as travelling without ticket and charged accordingly:i. Voter Photo Identity Card issued by Election Commission of India. ii. Passport iii. P AN Card issued by Income Tax Department iv. Driving Licence issued by RTO v. Photo Identity Card issued by Central/State Government vi. Student Identity Card with photograph issued by recognized School/College for their Students vii. Nationalised Bank Passbook with photograph and viii. Credit Cards issued by Banks with laminated photograph. ix. Unique identification Card Aadhaar .
g.
The procedure for booking Tatkal ticket is as under:For booking Tatkal ticket, a self attested photo copy of anyone of the proofs of identity mentioned above, of anyone passenger, is to be attached to the requisition slip. (ii) The details of the identity proof is captured by the system and indicated on the reserved tickets as well on the reservation chart. (iii) It is not mandatory for the passenger(s) to go to the counter to book the Tatkal ticket, however, the proof is to be sent in the aforementioned manner. (iv) Even for internet booking for Tatkal tickets, the passenger shall enter the identity proof type and number, which is to be used for travel. These details shall be printed on the ERS/indicated on the MRM/VRM as well as in the reservation chart. (v) During the journey, the passenger, whose identity card number has been indicated on the ticket, has to produce original proof of identity indicated on the ticket, failing which all the passengers booked on the ticket are treated as travelling without ticket and charged accordingly. Indication comes on the ticket regarding carrying the same original proof of identity during the journey, as indicated on the ticket. (vi) If the passenger whose identity card number is indicated on the ticket is not travelling, all other passengers booked on that ticket, if found travelling in train, will be treated as travelling without ticket and charged accordingly. No refund is granted on the confirmed Tatkal tickets. However, full refund of fare and Tatkal charges is granted on the tickets booked under Tatkal scheme under certain circumstances explained below:(i)
h.