r2i forum

Friends,
Has anyone tried booking Indian railway tickets online? How is the experience? I recently read in Economic Times that the online system isn't that reliable and there was a failure rate of around 72%-75%. See the article below:

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/transportation/railways/35-lakh-e-ticket-rail-bookings-failed-in-june/articleshow/15359987.cms

Would like to hear any suggestions/recommendations related to train bookings.

Thanks

I booked it twice n and there were no issues. You take print out and ID with you. Instructions are out there.

pnq2012;470193Would like to hear any suggestions/recommendations related to train bookings.

This year, I have booked about a dozen times and have had no problem.

Jaggudada;470194You take print out and ID with you.

Was informed to carry my passport as ID for the train journey. Interestingly, when I traveled with my wife and kids, the TTE shoo-ed my attempt to present the passport identification with "Not necessary, Sar!". On the return journey, my wife left with kids a day early and she was asked for the ID. When I traveled alone later, again the TTE told me not to bother about ID.

On a side note on identification, when I entered France on my way back, the immigration at CDG didn't bother asking why I was there or for how long, but just stamped our passports and welcomed us. When I entered US, the guy asked me what we do for profession, and some vague questions to my kids ("what is the name of your school?" and "what is your favorite subject?"). I was itching to tell him to visit France and observe how the French treat Americans. Same with entry to India, always a breeze. :) (though it is odd that there is paperwork to be filled for anyone leaving India, not common with other countries).

boca2blr;470207(though it is odd that there is paperwork to be filled for anyone leaving India, not common with other countries).

In triplicate? with photos and proof of address and copy of ration card?

Desi;470211In triplicate? with photos and proof of address and copy of ration card?

Though they asked for photo and copy of identification (voter's card) for getting a 3G data card (wanted one for internet access during my visit), could talk with the sales person at BSNL to issue it in my mom's name. They gave the form and helped me fill it (half way through, the person told me that it was enough information) and I took it to my mom for her signature (there were 3-4 places on the short form for signatures). It took all of less than half hour to get a 3G data card!

While at it, the sales person reviewed my mom's cell phone plan and recommended something called a "booster" @ Rs. 160 per month that would drop the call rate. Nice of him to have recommended that on his own will. My mom was happy to see that a 10 min call to Blr from Chennai was just Rs. 1.00.

Cell phone has become ubiquitous in India. Withdraw or deposit at your bank and they send an SMS. They even have a "do not call" registry (saw that on the form I filled for the data card). Don't know how effective that is.

I didn't encounter any bureaucratic issues during my short visit. My wife and kids reached there a week earlier to my visit. The kids' OCI visa was on their old passport that she failed to carry. The immigration folks were courteous and issued her a temporary visa and were apologetic for having to collect $40 each for the visa to cover for the fees (though they have a standard 2 week visa and her pleading that she was there for 15-days didn't help). I carried their old passports and didn't have any issues with departure. In the context of what I read with some old guy having to endure the infamous bureaucracy as a result of not carrying his OCI or PIO, didn't face any hassles with our case. Learned that the OCI visa stamp on the US passport is more important than the OCI booklet (which I thought was like the green card) for entry to India.

One can get by without hassles if one doesn't protest much. Smooth talking helps. Making the other person feel important helps (use all the titles including "Respected Sir", "Your Lordship", "Your Honor" when referring to the other, while it is "your humble servant"/"respectful minion" for self). :)

boca2blr;470214
One can get by without hassles if one doesn't protest much. Smooth talking helps. Making the other person feel important helps (use all the titles including "Respected Sir", "Your Lordship", "Your Honor" when referring to the other, while it is "your humble servant"/"respectful minion" for self). :)

Your Lordship,

Thanks for the update.

I remain forever, your humble servant.

Very humbly,

Yours, very own Desi (PG, shoo).

boca2blr;470207....... On the return journey, my wife left with kids a day early and she was asked for the ID. When I traveled alone later, again the TTE told me not to bother about ID.......

Sometimes they can be very rude.

First time I travelled on a senior citizen concession, I was ready to produce proof of the validity of my concession.

But the guys were very rude, they did not, either on the onward or the return journey ask for a proof of my age.

I refuse to believe that I look that old.

OP,
The only issue is booking tatkal at 8AM. For that you have to open the screen and type the uid/pwd and be ready at 7:59:30 AM so that you login at 8AM. You have to be logged in >= 8AM only.And thats the time everyone attempts and it take repeated attempts of login and then pick your train. Because of bandwidth issue, only limited people get through and get the ticket. Often I have kept on retrying from two laptops till 9AM and by then I dont get the ticket and then go to redbus.in.

Bottomline: As long as you dont have to book tatkal, you will be fine and it works.

FYI. The Tatkal scheme has been changed to 10am-12pm everyday instead of 8am. You can now book only 2 tickets (or is it 4) per person via Tatkal scheme. Also IRCTC has disabled multiple usage of same login id from different computers. They recently removed more than 65,000 multiple user id's which used same email id or phone number. This has definitely helped Tatkal booking. I travel by train a lot and did not have problems with Tatkal booking nor with regular booking. Tatkal booking was slow but recently this revamp has improved the speed time.