Indian Train Reservation

The processing for reservation of seats has been simplified by the help of Indian Railway system than in the time past. Metropolitan cities such as Chennai, Delhi and Mumbai have many counters located at various centers for users conveniences. There are also various counters for easy booking of tickets in the breadth and length of the country. Ever since the manual reservation centers have been computerized, ticket booking are now conveniently done to any destination from any station.

Apart from Sundays, these reservation centers are opened for services starting from  08:00 hrs IST to 20:00 hrs IST.  However, they offer services till 14:00 hrs IST on Sunday. Due to much demand of some of the routes of the Railways, Indian Railways has made facilities available for advanced reservation which is always available 60 days prior to the real date for passenger journeys. In April 2015, the Railway Board extended the advance railway booking period from 60 to 120 days. Therefore, it is always advised to book in advance  to avoid the stress of  rushing hours as most routes are always crowded. Although, to get the ticket for waiting list can also be stressful at times due to long queues.

Reservation is also made in advance for whoever wants to go for pilgrimages or sight seeing trips and this is guaranteed by the confirmation of reservation which is a proof that you will be permitted to travel with the assigned seat number. The permitted reservation in a single ticket is a maximum of six passengers and they must all head to the same station.

From the onset of reservation computerization, passengers have been allowed to book for ticket online, check for train timing, confirm if fares have been changed and check for wait listed ticket confirmation. Indian Railway also allows breaking of  journey which must not exceed 8 journeys and must be completed before it becomes invalid.

What to remember when booking ticket or during seat reservation

• Reservations can be book via any Indian Railway Reservation counter.
• Peradventure the ticket is waitlisted, you will not be allowed for the reserved coaches.
• From anywhere you may be, you can decide to use online booking
• Once the ticket includes both berth and coach number, it means it has been confirmed.
• It is possible to cancel Reservations even when the train has departed. 50% of payment made will be refunded in the case of confirmed reservation.
• If AS RAC is printed on the ticket, these mean you will only be permitted to sit only in the coach.
• Reservations made for pilgrimages and sight-seeing trips is allowed in all classes so far the journey begins and ends at the same destination.
• For a waitlisted ticket, the whole amount would be refunded on advance cancellation.

Status Abbreviation

CURR_AVBL : Current Booking Available| RAC : Reservation Against Cancellation | WL # : Wait List | REGRET/WL : No more booking allowed | AVAILABLE : Available | NOT AVAILABLE : Not Available