IRCTC announces new Special Trains for Summers

In a new move to deal with the summer rush, Indian Railways’ northern division has announced special summer trains.

The special trains will operate on the following routes—New Delhi-Barauni, Anand Vihar-Chhapra, Chandigarh-Gorakhpur, Jammu Tawi-Udaipur. For those traveling to Rajasthan from Delhi or Jammu, here are the details of the weekly special train.

Jammu Tawi-Udaipur weekly special train (04972): It departs from Jammu at 9:30 AM every Thursday and reaches Udaipur next day at 9:20 AM. Then it leaves Udaipur at 1:50 PM every Friday and reaches Jammu next day at 3:20 PM.

Other special trains from Delhi to different parts of the country are as follows
New Delhi-Barauni AC train (04404): It departs from New Delhi at 7:25 AM every Tuesday and Friday, and reaches Burani Junction next day at 7:45 PM. Likewise, the train departs Burani every Wednesday and Saturday at 9:35 PM and reaches Delhi next day at 10:10 PM.

Anand Vihar-Chhapra train (04036): It departs from Anand Vihar in Delhi at 10:50 PM every Tuesday and reaches Chhapra next day at 7:30 PM. The train then departs from Chhapra at 11:30 PM every Wednesday and reaches Anand Vihar next day at 8:30 PM.

Chandigarh-Gorakhpur train (04924): It departs from Chandigarh every Thursday at 11:15 PM, and reaches Gorakhpur next day at 5:30 PM. Then it leaves from Gorakhpur at 10:10 PM every Friday and reaches Chandigarh next day at 2:25 PM.

Enjoy your vacations !

IRCTC’s new facility of Changing Passenger’s name in booked E-Ticket

IRCTC now offers a very useful facility for the passengers traveling in a train. Now you can Change Passenger’s Name In Booked IRCTC E-Ticket.

This can be done by approaching the nearest railway reservation office. For availing this facility, the customer can now approach the nearest Railway Reservation Office with ‘electronic reservation slip’ print out and photo identity proof in original of one of the passenger traveling in the ticket at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure of train as per extant railway rules, IRCTC added.

Here are few things to know how to Change Passenger’s Name In Booked IRCTC E-Ticket:

1.    The reservation offices can change passenger’s name against a request from the passenger as per extant railway rules applicable to another face to face counter booked tickets.

2.    The facility in the name change of passenger holding confirmed e-reservation has been permitted as per extant Railway rules noted as under:-

a. Where the passenger makes a request in writing 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the train to the nearest railway reservation office. It can be transferred to another member of his family, meaning, father, mother, brother, sister, son, daughter, husband and wife. He/she should bring the ‘electronic reservation slip’ print out along with photo identity card proof in original and a proof for blood relation desired to be changed.

b. Where the passenger is a Government Servant proceeding on duty and appropriate authority, makes a request in writing 24 hours before the scheduled departure of the train.

3.    Such a request can be granted once only, said IRCTC.

Special Summer Trains For Hassle Free Holidays In Rajasthan

With the summer vacations approaching everyone wants to go home, go out for vacations to spend some time in the hilly mountains with their near and dear ones. Seeing this the North Western Railway (NWR) has made elaborate arrangements to overcome the summer rush.

Approximately 23 special trains have been started, which will be in operation till June 30. Though the trains are running fully booked, there has been an addition of extra coaches to accommodate the rush.

So if you want to head homewards or to the hills to beat the heat, book your tickets well in advance so that you can enjoy your vacations hassle free.

IRCTC introduces ‘Book Now Pay Later’ facility in Tatkal Ticket Booking Service

IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) has introduced and new feature for booking tickets called “Buy Now Pay Later”. You can now buy your railway tickets via IRCTC website and pay later, which could reduce the hassle of going through the payment process at the time of booking.

In accord to this new facility to book tickets under Tatkal quota through official site of IRCTC, passengers can now pay later for the tickets that are booked under the Tatkal scheme. For passengers travelling under Tatkal quota, earlier they need to pay first using standard online payment gateways and then portal confirms the ticket. To get tickets under this quota, IRCTC users are able to pay using debit card, credit card or cash and get delivery of their tickets at their doorstep. As per the information, IRCTC processes about 130,000 tatkal transactions on daily basis and most of the tickets get booked within few minutes of the quota and as soon as the counter opens.

 

This new feature annuls the transaction failures as well as in many cases, money gets debited and ticket is also not get issued due to many reasons behind and the refund cycle is also in between 7 to 15 days of time. In accord to the experts, pay on delivery feature prevents the use of a payment gateway and assist users to do the bookings in a few seconds of time and raises the chances of getting confirmed tickets under tatkal quota. The step by step methodology to avail IRCTC services and avail this scheme are been mentioned in below.

• To make use of this service, customers need to visit the IRCTC website and register at irctc.payondelivery.co.in.
• Customers can also access the same on mobile and needs to download ‘Book My Train on Mobile’ for iOS and Google platforms.
• Once the website gets opened, select Pay-on-delivery payment option.
• Choose the delivery address.
• As soon as the ticket gets booked, digital delivery will happen instantly through SMS or e-mail.

Now the travelers can buy railway tickets through IRCTC platform and pay later that will lower down the hassle of going all through the payment process at the booking time. It is going to render simplest checkout experience to people and using the same, you can pay the amount within just a single click. So, avail the facility, make sure to enjoy the checkout experience that this feature is been providing and no longer you have to struggle about the delivery of your ticket as the payment is not been done. The 14 day period is totally interest free so make sure to do the payment on time and travel safely.

For tatkal tickets, IRCTC users will be able to pay via cash, debit card or credit card by opting to have tickets delivered at their doorstep. IRCTC processes 130,000 Tatkal transactions daily. A majority of these tickets are booked within minutes of the quota opening.

The new feature eliminates the transaction failures as often the money gets debited and the ticket is not issued due to multiple reasons. The refund cycle is about seven to 15 days.

The pay on delivery feature completely circumvents the use of a payment gateway and will help users make the bookings in just a few seconds greatly increasing their chance of booking a confirmed ticket under the tatkal quota, experts says.

Steps to avail the IRCTC service

• To avail the service customers need to visit the website and register at http://irctc.payondelivery.co.in
• Customers can download ‘BookMyTrain on Mobile’ available for Google, ios platforms
• On the website, choose Pay-on-Delivery payment option
• Following this, select Delivery Address
• The digital delivery happens instantly via SMS /email

Enjoy booking Tatkal Tickets hassle free 🙂

No Service Charge On Online Train Tickets Booked through IRCTC for one month

The online railway ticket booking through the IRCTC website has just become cheaper! Thanks to  the Union Budget 2017!

Earlier, a service tax of Rs. 20 had to be paid while booking Sleeper Class tickets and Rs. 40 for AC class tickets.  This Service charges on e-tickets booked through IRCTC will be withdrawn.

The online booking of railway tickets has witnessed a sharp spurt after the government banned the  500 and 1000 notes on November 8 and the cash crunch that followed. But as people switched to cashless transactions, there was a growing demand that the service charge be waived.

Hence, in a move to make people turn more towards online payments and go cashless, the government has withdrawn taxes from tickets booked through IRCTC’s website.
Now the Online Payment has its own perks. Happy Traveling 🙂

New Rules of Indian Railways will be Effective from 1st July

Local Train is considered to be the lifeline of Mumbai but in a broader perspective, Indian Railways is lifeline of India. The trains connect our country and make it easy for people to travel to every part of the country. Railway Ministry keeps coming up with new set of rules to improve the services. Some new set of rules have been announced that will be effective from 1st of July. Take notes-

1.Suvidha trains will not have waiting lists from next month. Only confirmed and RAC passengers will get seats.

2.Passengers will get 50% refund on cancelling the tickets of Suvidha Trains.

3.The number of coaches in Rajdhani and Shatabdi trains will be increased.

4.Rajdhani and Shatabdi will have only Mobile tickets from July 1 which means that they are going paperless.

5.Train bookings will be started in various languages which is certainly a great step.

6.From July 1, the services of Premium trains will come to an end.

7.On cancellation of Tatkal tickets, passengers will get half refund.

8.Note the new Tatkal booking timings- Tatkal window for AC coach will be open between 10 am and 11 am while for sleeper coach it will be open from 11 am to 12 pm. This will reduce the traffic and bookings will come through faster.

9.Half refund of fare on cancellation charges of rupees 100 for air-conditioned-II tier/first class, rupees 90 for air-conditioned III-tier/3 economy/air-conditioned chair car and rupees 60 for sleeper class will be given.

 

Special Trip for New Year Travellors to Rajasthan

When it’s time to say Good Bye and welcome the New Year, we would want to celebrate it in an unconventional way. Some call their friends or some pack their bags to be at home, but some want to explore the unexplored.

For this last group of people IRCTC has started a new initiative of celebrating New Year with grandiosity. The world’s leading luxury train ‘Maharajas’ Express‘ will venture on a three-night/four-day tour of Delhi-Agra-Ranthambore-Jaipur-Delhi.

Famed as “Gems of India” as the cabins of the train have been named after precious gems, such as Firoza, Moti, Manik, Panna and Hakik, in an effort to recreate the royal grandeur of the bygone era, this train trip has been scheduled from December 30. On this journey, one can visit the world’s greatest monument of love, the Taj Mahal, spot the elusive tiger in Ranthambore National Park, soak up the spectacular regal heritage of Rajasthan in its magnificent forts, vibrant Bazaars and also the Royal cuisine. The journey will leave you with everlasting memories of a unique mix of Culture, History and Folklore.

The Maharajas’ Express has redefined the luxury travel experience by offering guests the opportunity to explore fabled destinations, providing a glimpse of rich cultural heritage of Incredible India that will leave travellors with fond memories of this train journey to be cherished.

For booking of tickets, the Maharajas’ Express website book tickets directly on http://www.The-maharajas.Com.

Experience Different Aspects Of Rajasthan With The Desert Circuit

With the increasing number of tourists visiting the colorful state of Rajasthan, the IRCTC has introduced a royal train to the state, specially designed to cater to the middle class.

Image via Goggle

The Desert Circuit is a semi – luxurious train which offers a package of 4 nights and 5 days. The train departs s from New Delhi on a five day odyssey with an array of deluxe facilities. The ‘Desert Circuit covers Rajasthan’s famed cities of sprawling deserts Jaisalmer and the eclectic heritage of the Pink City – Jaipur.

This special train which runs on the lines of the royal Palace on Wheels has its first halt at Jaisalmer for 2 days where tourists can enjoy the camel safari, sunset and visit the Sonar Haveli, Patwa Ki Haveli, Gadisar Lake and many others. The next halt is in the Pink City, where the tourists get to visit the City Palace, Jantar Mantar, Amber Fort, Hawa Mahal and other tourist spots.

Now ‘Golden Triangle’ Tour by three Shatabdi Trains!

If you are short of time but want to experience the magnificence of some of the most famous monuments in India then here is coming a unique offer by (IRCTC), where now the visitors can  tour the ‘Golden Triangle, that includes the three prominent cities of India Delhi, Agra and Jaipur—by three Shatabdi Express trains.

This is a first of its kind initiative in which train tickets in three Shatabdi Express have been linked to offer a comfortable and hassle-free travel schedule.

As we all know fully air conditioned Shatabdi Trains are amongst the fastest trains on the Indian railway network, that also offers meal onboard.

Itinerary-

Day 1–

Early morning boarding at the Delhi-Habibganj Shatabdi at New Delhi station and de-boarding at Agra.

Visit to Taj Mahal, the Agra Fort and Id-Mat-ud-daula with lunch at a 5-star hotel in Agra.

Board the Agra-Jaipur Shatabdi to reach Jaipur,

Stay at Nirwana Hometel for the overnight halt.

Day 2

Breakfast at Hotel

A visit to the famous Amber Fort, the 16th century palace known for large ramparts, gates and cobbled paths.

Lunch at the hotel.

Post-lunch, Visit to City Palace museum.

Board Jaipur-New Delhi Shatabdi Express from Jaipur railway station.

All sightseeing will be conducted in air-conditioned vehicles with experienced licensed guides onboard to narrate the stories and aesthetics involving the monuments.

Package- Rs. 9,444 per person on a double occupancy basis,

Excludes- Entrance fee to monuments

Digital tips for hassle free train journey

Snaking through lush green valleys, making way in the midst of scattered around sand dunes, passing on a bridge over vast span of River flowing underneath, going through dark tunnel or inching to halt station through the outskirts of the city are all the thrills which one experiences during train journey.

Train ride is simply magnificent. Come to know new people. Get to see new places.  Enjoy the natural beauty enroute and many more. But this joy has its own share of inconveniences. Here are some digital tips which a traveler can use to make his journey comfortable and hassle free.

1) Pre-plan your journey:

Though very basic but as it is said that a stitch at time saves nine, same principal applies here. Indian railways give one an opportunity to make reservations prior to the date of Journey. If one wants digital reservations to avoid long queue can book it through a website named as Ticketdate. 

 

2} On Waiting list: Any solutions:

Yes, there is a partial solution. A tool christened Trainman can apprise you with the odds of wait listed tickets to be confirmed. The modus operandi is simple. Enter the PNR no. and press the percentage symbol in the list of trains of the route one wishes to take. If the odds are in favor of ticket getting confirmed than it will appear with green background. If it appears in Red background, then it is obvious that confirmation might not happen.

3) Acquaint with Station codes. Train schedules and routes:

One can get real time data at Indianrail.gov.in to extract information regarding seat availability, fares, schedules and routes. This information helps to obtain confirmed reservation in the desired train.

4) Need Tatkal tickets:

An autofill tool is available for booking tatkal tickets. The Magic Autofill button will enter your booking details on the browser so that the request is ahead in queue as soon as clock strikes 10 A.M., the stipulated time for booking Tatkal tickets.

5) Pay for tickets on delivery:

There is a facility provided for cash on delivery in case one does not has online payment options. A simple app on your smart phone can get you out of this problem. BookMyTrain provides this facility to traveler in 200 cities across India.

6) On wait list, fly by air:

If the wait listed tickets are booked 3 days prior to the date of Journey and stand no chance of confirmation then,  IRCTC which has a tie up with low cost flight operators will provide with an option to fly by air to your destination.

7) Check the arrival status:

The arduous wait of a train behind schedule at platform kills the thrill of journey and wastes the time which otherwise could have been utilized for any other purpose, RailYatri updates live on the schedule status of running train. It also has two amazing features which will let the traveler know the status of Mobile connectivity during the journey and it will also advise upon avoidance of habitually late trains.

8) Forgot to carry food, no worry

Barring few trains the food of train’s pantry is just awful , To avoid occurrence of gastronomical trouble during the journey, an option is available in form of Travel Khana where meal can be ordered for 2000 trains running through all major stations of the country is provided through an app or phone. The payment has to be made on delivery.

 

These virtual aids will certainly make your chook-chook journey merrier. So jump on the band wagon and enjoy the journey.