Modern Technology Making Railway Ticket Booking Easy

Indian Railways is one of the world’s busiest and largest one. There are approximate 7 billion tons of freight and 6 billion passengers transported on the railway network annually. So a careful planning for the trip becomes necessary when you decide to travel through Indian Railways.

Online Booking:

Earlier, booking Indian train tickets was a very hectic job. People need to book the ticket by waiting in long queues at the ticket counter of railway stations. But now IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering & Tourism Corporation) has availed the system of online booking. This enables the passenger to book ticket from anywhere with the help of internet connection. Here payments are easily made through net-banking, debit or credit cards.

The Procedure of Reservation:

You can register yourself on the IRCTC website to conveniently book tickets. Registration can be done by signing up from the home page and filling all the required details in it. Then your user account will be created which can be use every time you book ticket through the site. Also while registering, you are provided with various options like SBI Railway Credit Card and Subh Yatra as well as preferred payment option for SMS - based booking.

Searching for Train:

When you will log in on the website, you need to input details like source station, destination station, travel date, ticket type and class of ticket (sleeper, second sitting, AC Chair, AC 2 tier, AC 3 tier, First Class AC). Then you can search the trains available and also seats available in it. From there you can book the ticket as per your preference.

Ticket Type:

When you input details while searching trains, there comes the option of ‘Ticket Type’. Ticket type is basically of 2 types in the online booking procedure viz;

1. E-Ticket

E-Ticket can be booked and updated until the time of preparation of charts for the train. A person need to take the print-out of the electronic generated ticket, now a day’s even a SMS by IRCTC will do. Along with the SMS or print out of the ticket, you also need to carry one of your Identity Proof document like Aadhar card, Pan Card, Passport, Driving license etc. These tickets can also be cancelled online and money is sent back to the same account from which ticket was booked.

2. I-Ticket

I-Ticket is same as the traditional ticket. You can book I-ticket only if there is 48 hours gap between the date of journey and booking date. This is the required time they usually take to deliver ticket at your address. Not just confirmed or RAC ticket; you can book ticket even if it's on waiting list.

Payment Option:

1. Net-Banking

Payment through net banking can also be done if you have your net banking activated through the respective bank.

2. Credit Card

Credit Cards like American Express, ICICI Bank Cards, Citibank, Axis bank, RU card powered by Kotak bank and HDFC Bank can be used.

3. Debit Card

Debit cards of SBI, Punjab national Bank, Indian Bank, Union bank of India, bank of India, Andhra bank, Canara Bank, CITI bank, ICICI Bank, HDFC and Axis bank are accepted. All other debit card holder or RU pay holders’ needs to pay via any of the credit card gateway or Kotak Ru pay gateway respectively.

4. Cash cards/ Wallets

Due to increasing trend in the use of mobile wallet service, IRCTC has also integrated the wallet payment system on the gateway.

5. EMI Option

There is also Emi option available from the CITI bank where you can pay the amount in monthly installment with some interest charge on it.

Ticket Confirmation:

If you haven’t got confirmed ticket for your journey then you must have got a waiting list (WL) ticket. Knowing about the confirmation of the WL ticket is important before the journey commencement. IRCTC website also provides the way to check the ticket status via PNR (Passenger Name Record) number which is provided with every reserved ticket. You only need to put the PNR number in the PNR status check box on the home page. All details regarding the status will be displayed then. A passenger can even get the status check through SMS or call.

To be concluding, we can say that travelling through Indian Railway has become a lot more convenient and easy now. The use of PNR number in order to follow up the reservation status has wholly revolutionized the system.

Kabir is a contributing writer for Indian Train a top resource for information on Indian Train Enquiry Services as well travel industry news and information.