Book IRCTC Train Ticket Booking on Yatra.com

In order to curb the panic among those stuck far away from their homes, longing to make a return journey, the Indian Railways introduced 40 pairs of special trains beginning 12 September 2020 aboard which you can make an IRCTC reservation. Some of the prominent ones include Kota Dehradun Special that goes from Kota to Dehradun Trains on all days. Jabalpur to Ajmer, Prayagraj to Jaipur, Humsafar Special from Gorakhpur to Anand Vihar, Agartala to Deoghar, New Delhi to Indore Trains, Mysore to Jaipur, New Delhi to Prayagraj are among some of the special trains started by the Indian Railways to cater to the people who are stuck across different locations in the country and have no other legitimate way of making the return journey. These trains comprise daily, weekly and bi-weekly trains and it is possible to book any of these trains, subject to their availability, on the IRCTC website.

IRCTC Train Ticket Reservation Online

Yatra.com has tied up with IRCTC to assist you with your train ticket bookings and making sure they happen seamlessly. After booking a holiday at a destination, it makes it all the more easy to close your train bookings as well in the same platform. You can rely on Yatra's expansive trains search console that helps you select a train to and from your desired destination. You can use its elaborate filters to zero in on a train that best suits your budget and in the end helping you save plenty of time with your IRCTC train booking.

How to do your IRCTC Online Train Booking with Yatra.com

• For an IRCTC booking, head to the Trains section on the home page.
• Further to that, enter your departure and arrival stations, your date of departure and click 'search trains'.
• In the subsequent page, you will be able to see an array of trains with their departure and arrival timings along with the duration of the trip. It also states the various classes available on each train.
• Refining your search further are the filters on the left hand panel. It allows you to pick a station that is most convenient to you from your departure city. The same applies to the arrival city. You also have the option to choosing your preferred departure and arrival timings.
• Once you have applied the filters, you will get a search result accordingly.
• Now go through the list of trains and shortlist the one of your choice before further choosing the class whether 1A, 2A, 3A or SL (AC First Tier, AC Second Tier, AC Third Tier and Sleeper Class).
• Once you select a particular train class, you will get a table that gives you the dates in a week in which the class is available. Now pick the one that best suits you and click 'book now'.
• The next page tells you the train name, number, departure and arrival details. Click on 'continue'.
• At this point you would have to log in with your IRCTC user id and click 'submit'. In case you do not already have an IRCTC account, you will have to create one. And in case you have forgotten your IRCTC password, you are offered the option of retrieving it.
• Further on, fill up the passenger details, requirement for a travel insurance among other details before hitting 'continue'.
• The subsequent page lets you review your itinerary before going ahead to the payment gateway.
• Your confirmed train ticket is then sent to your registered email id.

Withdrawal of IRCTC Concession

In light of the current COVID situation, the fare concession has been withdrawn till further notice for all categories of passengers except the four categories of Divyangjan and 11 categories of patients. In view of the health advisory and in order to discourage passengers from taking up any non-essential travel this has been decided as a special case that no concessional UTS and PRS ticket for all categories of passengers save for students and the already mentioned categories would be issued.

How to Search Trains on IRCTC

In order to make an IRCTC train booking, these are the steps you need to follow:

• First off, register yourself on the IRCTC Next Generation website.
• To make an IRCTC booking, you need to login in with your username and password followed by the captcha code.
• Once you are logged in to IRCTC online, enter your starting and onward destinations, date of departure, preferred class of travel (you can choose between AC 2 Tier, Anubhuti Class, AC First Class, Executive Chair Car, First Class, AC 3 Tier, AC 3 Economy, AC Chair Car, Sleeper, Second Sitting), and search.
• At this stage you are offered the option of checking the box 'flexible with date'
• The subsequent page displays the search result and also at the top gives you the option of entering the number of passengers for whom you are making the search followed by and/or 'modify your search'.
• In the lower half of the page you can view the list of trains available for your chosen dates.
• The first column has the train name and number along with its departure days, followed by the second column which displays departure time, arrival time, total length of the trip, and the class of travel.
• Now select the train of your choice, and click on 'check availability & fare' against your chosen train.
• You will immediately get to know the IRCTC seat availability for your specified date and the fare for the same. Apart from your chosen date, IRCTC also shows you the subsequent dates on which the train is available for booking, and allows you to book the same.
• In the same page, you are also given the option to 'confirm availability on alternate trains', and subsequently shown those alternate trains found on the specified day, whether or not they are available for booking or are on RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation).
• Once you have zeroed in on a train, click 'book now'. Further on, a confirmation window appears asking whether you would like to continue with your current choice. Say 'Ok'.
• Then enter passenger details which includes name, age and gender, the subsequent berth preferences of the passenger. Continue to enter your meal preference especially if the train is a Rajdhani, Duronto or Shatabdi.
• Once you are through you will land in the payment gateway, where you need to enter your bank details and make the final payment, therefore concluding your IRCTC online booking.
• After the payment is made, you are shown a confirmation window mentioning all details of the booked ticket.
• The final ticket will comprise the PNR number, and the status of your ticket at the time of booking, whether confirmed (CNF) or on wait list (WL). You are also given your coach number, seat/berth number on the same page.

IRCTC Next Generation

The new, improved IRCTC website is called IRCTC Next Generation. It shows you the whole gamut of trains running across the country complete with their schedule, train categories, days of operation and tariff. On this revamped website, you can make a more refined search by applying the filters. The dynamic interface makes it possible for you to make air ticket bookings, browse holiday packages, whether romantic, family, honeymoon or spiritual. Your options abound.

IRCTC and the Tatkal Booking Scheme

If you wish to make your IRCTC train ticket booking on a short notice, you can easily go for the Indian Railways Tatkal scheme. Under such a scheme you can make your booking whether online or offline (at the designate railway counter) one day prior to your date of travel. This IRCTC ticket booking window opens at 10:00 am a day before your date of journey for the air-conditioned coaches, and at 11:00 am a day ahead of your date of journey for sleeper coaches.

Checking IRCTC Live Train Status

The Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) website lets you track your train in real time. The National Train Enquiry System page comprises a tab called ‘spot your train' where you can do a search once you have entered your train name or number. This will lead you to an information page which gives you details like the distance covered by the train so far, the arrival and departure time from prominent stoppage stations, and an estimated arrival time at your chosen destination.

This goes on to mean that you have been issued a ticket on a train that is already running to capacity. And just as passengers with confirmed tickets keep cancelling their bookings, your ranking on the waitlist keeps getting better, subsequently making it possible for you to get a confirmed train ticket.

There is no assurance on whether or not a wait list IRCTC train ticket will get confirmed. This purely depends on the volume of cancellations that take place against confirmed tickets, and how that impacts your ranking on the wait list. In case it makes a substantial difference to catapult you into the RAC list (with no confirmed or reserved berth) when the train's chart is prepared, you will at least be able to board the train. Not to mention, you can always SMS 139 to IRCTC enquiry time and again to check the position of your wait listed ticket. But on an unconfirmed wait list ticket at the time of preparing a chart, you have the right to seek a full refund.

IRCTC Cancellation Charges

Any e-ticket can be cancelled online anytime before the chart is prepared. For the same, head to IRCTC's booked tickets link and select the ticket you would like cancelled. You need to confirm the cancellation online and the refund is then credited back to your account used for the booking. In case of a partial cancellation, you need to ensure that a new e-reservation slip is printed separately just the way it was done for the original ticket. If the cancellation is done more than 48 hours ahead of the train's scheduled departure, a flat cancellation charge of INR 240 is deducted for AC First Class/Executive Class, INR 200 for AC 2 Tier/First Class, INR 180 for AC 3 Tier/AC Chair Car/AC 3 Economy, INR 120 for Sleeper Class and INR 60 for Second Class. These are cancellation charges for every individual passenger. If you cancel your confirmed ticket within 48 hours to up to 12 hours prior to your scheduled departure, cancellation charges are 25% of the fare subject to the minimum flat rate mentioned above. For less than 12 hours to up to 4 hours ahead of the departure time to chart preparation time, it is 50% of the fare paid subject to the minimum cancellation charges.

A subsidiary of the IRCTC Next Generation, this tourism wing lets you book special train-based packages, air travel, theme-based holidays, nature and sightseeing tours, and of course, its speciality, pilgrimage tours to all the major pilgrimage spots in the country. The site is lauded for its runaway hit programmes like the Bharat Darshan Special Tourist Train, also called, Ramayana Yatra. You have the choice of viewing this detailed itinerary, explore the choice of trains, the package inclusions such as hotel stay and finalise your travel dates depending on the IRCTC availability.

IRCTC FTR has simplified the online booking of railway coaches for special occasions such as marriage party or group tour through a Full Tariff Rate. As per Indian Railways, you can now book special trains, coaches and saloons on a Full Tariff Rate or FTR, which means they can be booked through a single window booking system on the IRCTC website.

You could be an individual, a party, the government or an agency and you have the provision to book trains or coaches or saloons through the FTR route on IRCTC. Here IRCTC will make the booking online on behalf of an individual or group. IRCTC also levies a facilitation charge of 5% of your total fare for booking these special trains or coaches. Indian Railway will prioritise the booking of these special coaches and saloons on FTR over reserving extra coaches in order to clear the passengers on a wait list. Make sure you do the registration of a special train at least one month ahead and not more than six months of your date of journey. In case you are making a registration for a duration shorter than one month, you would then require a special permission from the CPTM of the zonal railways. The security deposit for such a booking is INR 50,000 per coach, and in case of special trains, you will be charged for a minimum of 18 coaches. Not to mention, the whole transaction needs to be carried out only digitally.

Presently, FTR booking is allowed for journeys kicking off from the stations of the Western Railway Zone alone. You can complete the registration process on the IRCTC website or at the UTS counter of the journey starting station. At the time of booking, the individual or the party needs to provide the booking type, the route and details of coaches. Post registration you are provided with a reference number and a registration amount. You need to make the payment against the reference number and this will generate your FTR number. Indian Railways needs to receive the said payment within six days of making the registration.

In case you wish to cancel your FTR booking or the railways decides to revoke your booking, the refund shall be processed through a manual procedure involving the Chief Commercial Manager. A party can book a maximum of 10 coaches through FTR in a single train on a single tour. You can, however, book a maximum of 24 coaches of an FTR train including 2 SLR (Seating-cum-Luggage Rake) coaches. The registration sum for a coach for a period of one week is INR 50,000. If your journey extends any beyond seven days, you need to pay an additional INR 10,000 per day, per coach.

IRCTC UTS stands for Unreserved Ticketing System that lets passengers of the Indian Railways buy unreserved tickets through the UTS mobile app. This is best suited for daily commuters and commuters on a short notice. The purpose of the mobile application is to eliminate the need to queue up at a counter to purchase unreserved tickets and make the process wholly digital. So all you need to do is download the Unreserved Ticketing System app and book a paperless ticket between two stations. Not only does it help with booking an unreserved paper ticket, it also lets you collect one at any of the automatic ticket vending machines anywhere in the country. If you happen to lose internet connectivity while booking such a ticket, the app lets you access the ticket even on an offline mode. You can make your payment towards the ticket through the Indian Railway provided R-Wallet (Railway Wallet) so that the entire transaction is completed digitally. These unreserved tickets can be booked on a bunch of suburban lines as well as a few long-distance routes. For instance, you can use your unreserved ticket at stations in Chennai, Secunderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi.

Once you have downloaded the app, you need to register yourself, post which your R-Wallet is automatically created. You can now buy your unreserved ticket using this wallet and even recharge it as well by heading to the UTS mobile website. Additionally, the wallet can be recharged at any railway booking counter provided you do it in multiples of 100. Not to mention, you cannot recharge beyond INR 5000. Presently, you can buy platform tickets as well as journey and season tickets using this app. You can book your unreserved ticket only 15 metres away from the station. For journey tickets, the radius is 5 km from the starting station. While for platform tickets, the distance is 2 km from the departure station. However, these restrictions don't apply on the booking of season tickets. Of course, there is no provision of booking an advance ticket as the whole idea is to enable you to make your booking on the current journey date.

Your unreserved ticket is further sent to the app and you can use the 'show ticket' option to display the ticket at the time of checking. These tickets are not subject to cancellation and you need to commence your journey within an hour after the booking.

-The capacity of IRCTC Next Generation site is touted to be 7200 tickets every minute as opposed to the former 2000 ticket per minute.

- IRCTC is perhaps Asia's greatest e-commerce site, clocking up a staggering 4 lakh bookings a day, leaving a certain Flipkart or Amazon far behind.

- IRCTC was the most searched term on Google India in 2014.

IRCTC is your treasure trove for everything trains, and now holidays, and it makes perfect sense to register yourself, and become its active user.

FAQs on IRCTC Train Tickets