IRCTC is a corporation established by Ministry of Railways
for providing advance reservation of Train tickets through Internet. IRCTC
stands for Indian Railway Catering & Tourism corporation Limited. It maintains a website www.irctc.co.in
through which passengers can book their tickets online well in advance. You can access the IRCTC shopping page here.
Train
tickets can be booked up to 60 days in advance, excluding the date of journey.
For those passengers who have to travel urgently, IRCTC provides Tatkal reservation
facility. Tatkal reservation commences one day before the commencement of train
journey from the origin station. At the time of booking of train tickets, each
ticket is assigned with a 10 digit unique identification number – PNR Number.
Passengers can know the status of their booking through PNR Status.
At the time
of booking , the tickets can be allotted confirmed reservation or placed in RAC
or in Waiting list depending on the availability. The RAC or Waitlisted booking
can be confirmed in a later stage depending up on the cancellations. The
present can be accessed using the PNR Status. When a ticket is booked an SMS
will be sent to the mobile number registered in the database. An E-Mail is also
sent to the customer detailing the PNR, ticket status, fare charged etc;.
Passengers can travel with a print out of the E-Mail or by showing the SMS
received in their mobile to the TTE at the time of journey. Train PNR Status could be checked anytime before the time of journey.
However, the
passenger shall carry with a him a Photo ID Card to prove his identity. CRIS collects service charges at the time of booking. Recently, IRCTC hasalso entered
in to the segment of online Hotel booking & Airline booking. It also
conducts Conducted package tours to important tourist and pilgrimage centers in
India .
Tickets booked, can be cancelled online. IRCTC collects cancellation
charges and the charges varies depending on the date of cancellation.
