Guide to Train Travel in India

The Indian Railway network may be the fourth largest on the planet next only to the ones from USA, Russia and China. The Indian railways ply over 10,000 trains carrying $ 30 million passengers and 3 million tonnes of freight everyday. The job of running and managing this railway system over the geographical diversity from the Indian sub- continent is managed with a work force of 1. 5 million employees.
The trains in India has sorted out into 9 types viz. Duronto, Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Gareeb Rath, Jan Shatabdi, Superfast, Express, Passenger and suburban trains. The train schedule is determined by the type of train and if the train is an express or superfast train. For instance, the Duronto and Rajdhani trains are fast trains and also have fewer stops when compared with Express Trains, that are slower and have multiple stops along the way.
The official website from the Indian Railways has been made to provide updated details about train schedules and railway seat availability to allow the user book tickets with maximum convenience.
Ways to use the Official IRCTC Website to Check up on Seat Availability
• Produce the user profile on the website www.irctc.co.in
• Sign in with the registered username and password
• Type in abbreviations for arrival and departure stations from decrease menu
• Select date of travel, quota and kind of ticket from menu
• Check seat availability against selected train
• In the event of clear availability, type in passenger details and payment details to book ticket • In the event of waitlisted tickets, screen displays final amount of waitlisted tickets booked against quantity of confirmed tickets
• Just in case ticket booked in waitlisted category, note PNR number to trace confirmation status
• The waitlisted tickets relocate the Reservation against cancellation (RAC) status until you are confirmed.
• It is possible to check PNR status on the phone or through mobile apps
• In case a waitlisted ticket doesn't get confirmed, it is possible to cancel the booking online till about 4 hours before the departure of the train in the train originating station. Cancellation charges are charged in the event of ticket cancellations
• The price of check in less the cancellation charges applicable are credited to the payment account inside the specified turnaround time.
• No more than 6 tickets at any given time can be booked with a single user.
• Delivery charges can be applied on an I-ticket
• The screen dump from the e-ticket on a laptop, iPad or mobile is allowed instead of a printed ticket