The 2nd best way to travel in India apart from flights is by the Railways. The Indian Railways are a vast expansive networking connecting almost all parts of India. It is one of the best legacies left by the British.
Unfortunately however, the railway tickets to most popular routes get sold out pretty quickly. Thus, you would have to plan well ahead for your trip and book your tickets in advance to get comfortable seats in the AC compartments. It is always advisable to book tickets in advance even if you are not exactly sure of your plans because if you cancel your tickets even before a day, you will get almost all of your money back.
So, where do you start booking your tickets from. The official website is www.irctc.co.in. You would have to create an account to book tickets there. Please be warned that the website experiences unbelievable traffic sometimes and will be unresponsive on such times.
So, follow the below steps to book a ticket:
1) Register with https://www.irctc.co.in and sign up.
2) Then register with http:cleartrip.com/register
3) When you register with both the sites please register with the same email id.
4) Then as a next step you would have to link up both these accounts. But you would most probably fail doing that if you try it through cleartrip since you do not have an Indian mobile number to receive an sms. So you would have to write emails to the below IDs. Include all the IDs in the same mail and send it.
6) You should expect to receive an email like this.
8) Once you receive the Mobile verification code through email, you can use that to link both the accounts and start booking tickets through cleartrip that is much better.
What is the best class of travel in the railways?
There are basically 5 classes of travel.:
1) Unreserved: Never ever enter into this coach as this is almost always crowded with the poor who canno afford a better class.
2) Second Sleeper: This is where most of the general public travels. This compartment has the very basic necessity for travel. You can sleep at stretch during the nights as you will be allocated a berth. Please be warned though that the washrooms here would be most untidy. You will not be happy with the services provided here and this class should be avoided as much as possible.
3) AC Three Tier Sleeper: This is where the upper middle middle class sleep. It is much more cleaner, fully air conditioned and feels very comfortable as well. You should definitely travel in this and above only if you need comfortable and safe journey.
4) AC 2 Tier Sleeper: Similar to 3 tier except that its more spacious.
Also, travelling in the AC compartments is safer as you would have less trouble from crooks.
Once you have booked a ticket, an sms would be sent to your phone and an e-ticket would be sent to your email. Either that or an eticket sent to your mail would be enough . You need not physically take print outs. And yeah you also have to have an identity proof with you.
There is however an excellent write up on this website that I found just as I completed typing this post. Do visit this one, it is more comprehensive.
http://www.seat61.com/India.htm#book%20-%20from%20outside
Bon voyage!!
Unfortunately however, the railway tickets to most popular routes get sold out pretty quickly. Thus, you would have to plan well ahead for your trip and book your tickets in advance to get comfortable seats in the AC compartments. It is always advisable to book tickets in advance even if you are not exactly sure of your plans because if you cancel your tickets even before a day, you will get almost all of your money back.
So, where do you start booking your tickets from. The official website is www.irctc.co.in. You would have to create an account to book tickets there. Please be warned that the website experiences unbelievable traffic sometimes and will be unresponsive on such times.
So, follow the below steps to book a ticket:
1) Register with https://www.irctc.co.in and sign up.
2) Then register with http:cleartrip.com/register
3) When you register with both the sites please register with the same email id.
4) Then as a next step you would have to link up both these accounts. But you would most probably fail doing that if you try it through cleartrip since you do not have an Indian mobile number to receive an sms. So you would have to write emails to the below IDs. Include all the IDs in the same mail and send it.
wsoperations@irctc.co.in
care@irctc.co.in
railesc@cleartrip.com5) Mention in your email that you would like to link both the accounts so that you can book your tickets through cleartrip. And since you do not have an Indian mobile number you are not able to receive the OTP and that you request them to send it via email.
6) You should expect to receive an email like this.
Dear Customer,7) While you send your email please remember to send a scanned copy of your passport photo page and send it as an attachment to the email and make sure it is less than 1MB in size.
Please find email OTP and mobile OTP for activation:
Email OTP: xxxx
Mobile OTP: xxxx
user id : xxxxx (your ID)
Thanks & Regards
Ws Team
WS Operations
IRCTC Ltd.
8) Once you receive the Mobile verification code through email, you can use that to link both the accounts and start booking tickets through cleartrip that is much better.
What is the best class of travel in the railways?
There are basically 5 classes of travel.:
1) Unreserved: Never ever enter into this coach as this is almost always crowded with the poor who canno afford a better class.
2) Second Sleeper: This is where most of the general public travels. This compartment has the very basic necessity for travel. You can sleep at stretch during the nights as you will be allocated a berth. Please be warned though that the washrooms here would be most untidy. You will not be happy with the services provided here and this class should be avoided as much as possible.
3) AC Three Tier Sleeper: This is where the upper middle middle class sleep. It is much more cleaner, fully air conditioned and feels very comfortable as well. You should definitely travel in this and above only if you need comfortable and safe journey.
4) AC 2 Tier Sleeper: Similar to 3 tier except that its more spacious.
Also, travelling in the AC compartments is safer as you would have less trouble from crooks.
Once you have booked a ticket, an sms would be sent to your phone and an e-ticket would be sent to your email. Either that or an eticket sent to your mail would be enough . You need not physically take print outs. And yeah you also have to have an identity proof with you.
There is however an excellent write up on this website that I found just as I completed typing this post. Do visit this one, it is more comprehensive.
http://www.seat61.com/India.htm#book%20-%20from%20outside
Bon voyage!!
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