I am covering a series of Howto's on India, and after How to buy Online Shares in India, Best Broadband Providers in India, Which Motorcycle to buy this is the next article on How to make Online Railway Reservation in India. Online reservation is still new for most of the Indians so I felt to cover this topic 
Now Traveling using the Indian railway system will require reservations(unless you have decided to travel in second class where humans are treated like cattles, actually even worse). In India, All ticket reservations are done through a computerized system to make booking easier. Bookings open months in advance(2 months) so you have more than enough time to reserve your ticket, however, it is important to book your reservations as far ahead of time as possible since trains are very busy and tend to get booked out weeks ahead of the scheduled travel time. (Summer time is just crazy time, I have seen waiting for 500 in Pushpak Express which connects mumbai to Lucknow!)
So to avoid all this inconvenience, You can purchase train tickets online through the government sponsored service at www.irctc.co.in. Here are simplified steps in making online ticket reservations:
1. Go to the online booking page of Indian Railways at www.irctc.co.in.
2. If you are new to the site, create a user name and password. You won’t need to go through this step if you have already registered. Log in using your username and password.
3. You will be directed to a page with the form titled “Plan My Travel and Book Ticket.” Once on that page, you will be required to provide your travel itinerary by filling in the following information: your origin, your destination, the date of travel, the class, and ticket type.
4. You will be shown various trains that match the stations you have chosen. Select the specific train you wish to make reservations for.
5. A screen showing the form titled “Ticket Reservation” will be showed once you have selected a train. You will need to provide passenger information such as Name, Age, and Sex and select your choice of seating. You will also need to make a choice for your meals if your ticket price includes meals.
6. Your reservation details will be showed in the succeeding form. This screen allows you to check the details of your reservation. This page also shows payment options and provides a way for you to change your reservation details.
7. You will be shown a page where you can select your credit card for payment. A form will be provided for you to provide your credit card information such as credit card number and expiry date.
8. Click on the Buy button to purchase your ticket or the Replan button to change your reservation details.
Feedback from people who have used the online railway ticket reservation system has been positive. While some people find it a bit of a struggle, some people have found themselves breezing through the booking process. If at first you don’t get through the process in booking a ticket, don’t get frustrated and give up. Remember, the online system can become overloaded with the amount of traffic it has to handle. So be patient and simply try again.
My next article will be on How to use Minister quota to get Railway tickets before 15 minutes of train departure 
(seriously I have seen this happening, when one person used MLA quota and got births, most likely displacing smoeone who had reserved 2 weeks back). Comments are welcome as well as your views on Online reservation service.
Links you may find interesting -
- Know Everything about Indian Railways
- Northern Indian Railways
- What is IRCTC
- How to Plan your Visit/Vacation/Tour to India ?
- How to Buy Second Hand Mobile Sets (or from Gray Market) in India ?
August 24th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
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August 26th, 2007 at 2:22 am
It’s an interesting concept to say the least..
September 3rd, 2007 at 7:26 am
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