Monthly Archives: January 2015

Indian Rail Info, Indian Railway News, IRCTC

Get Indian Railway Information on Mobile via SMS or Call

Leave a comment

Indian Railways has been a mixed blessing for us Indians. There was a time when the railways timetable booklet was referred to as the ‘joke book’ of Rail ministry. Waiting at the station for hours for the train to come was a regular incident.

And booking tickets was a matter of real drudgery. Long queues, unreliable information and frustrating behaviour were all part and parcel of train travelling.

Until recently, the situation remained almost unchanged. In the era of high-tech speed, we had to go to physical centres to book tickets. We had a website, but there was always a chance that it would not work properly.

Today, fortunately, things are changing. Now, e-ticketing is a reality. Along with this and other facilities, SMS booking has been launched, and for sure, this is going to change the experience of Indian Railways forever.

  • The Initial Stages –

Previously, the Indian Railways website could only book a meagre 2000 tickets per minute. When the site crashed under excessive passenger traffic, the Ministry of Railways took initiatives to re-launch the site. The new site can book 7200 tickets per minute. Last year along with the new site launch, the SMS ticket booking and information system was also launched. Now obtaining any news regarding the Indian Railways is a matter of sending an SMS.

  • The Process –

Before you press the send button, there are a few steps to cover. Let’s look at the process:

  1. The process works on the foundation of Immediate Payment Service or IMPS supported by banks. You need to have an account with a bank, which supports IMPS. Currently, almost all banks do that. You also need to have the Mobile Money Identifier or the MMID code of seven digits for the transaction.
  2. You have to create your own IRCTC account. When you need to enter the phone number, please enter the number, which you have registered in the bank through which the payment will be processed.
  3. As you are done with the IRCTC account and your bank’s MMID, a One Time Password or OTP will be sent to you from your bank.
  4. Now send the SMS to 139. It should read like BOOK (Train number) (Train code) Passenger name passenger gender, etc. you can book up to six seats through the SMS.
  5. IRCTC will send an SMS with fare and seat availability as well as the transaction ID.
  6. Send PAY IMPS IRCTC user ID to 139.
  7. As the confirmation message arrives, just show the message while you board the train or the checker comes. There is no need to print anything.

At the first go, the process may seem a bit complicated. But just think about standing the lines or the frustration in case of internet failure, soon you will get accustomed with this process. And considering a meagre fee of Rs. 3 per SMS and a lot of ease, booking tickets through SMS is really the dream of any Indian Railways traveller.

  • Other Services –

Other than booking tickets, the Indian Railways SMS service is a complete information hub. Passengers can get a number of important answers from the service. The most common are:

  1. SMS Railway to 57886: This is for Indian Railways overall information like schedule, timetable, PNR status, search seat availability, etc. The return SMS would have all the options from which the sender will again choose and send.
  2. SMS IRTRAIN (Train Name) or IRTRAIN (Train No.) to 57886: This will show the time table of the train.

Another number, which has the same facility, is 139. By sending the right SMS, you can avail the right information;

  1. SMS PNR (10 digit PNR number) to 139 for any PNR enquiry.
  2. SMS AD (Train number) (Station STD code) to 139 to know the arrival and departure times.
  3. To know the seat accommodation, please SMS SEAT (Train number) (date of journey) (Station from: STD Code) (Station to: STD Code) (Class) (Quota) to 139.

Likewise, you can enquirer about train name and time, as well.

These simple technological help is going to make a huge impact on our economy making travelling and reaching places simpler. Truly, the SMS facility is a new age facility for Indian Railways passengers.

IRCTC, Special Trains, Trains

Overview of Indian Railway Luxury Trains

Leave a comment

Since we can remember, India has enjoyed a reputation of being a destination of luxury. Here, a mere meal can escalate to the degree of being divine, a sombre journey has the potential to become a saga of sophistication, and a stay can re-define ideas of elegant living.

And this obsession, with a larger-than-life luxury, is celebrated in real, everyday schedules, as well. With a legacy of luxury, as old as eternity, the luxury trains from the stable of Indian Railways and IRCTC turn a simple journey into a tryst with regal living. These trains are truly the epitome of Indian luxury and sophistication done to perfection.

  • The Maharaja Express –

If you thought that a train journey can never offer sophisticated journey experience, think again, India’s Maharaja Express is the answer to Europe’s Oriental Express. The new age Maharaja Express is the property of IRCTC since 2010. The idea at work here is the same that defined the kingly life in India during the reigns of kings and the British Raj. From décor, dining to facilities, this train has everything done in the perfect royal style.

Wi-Fi connection, satellite TV, DVD viewing, air conditioning are just a few of the services that you will enjoy during the week long journey covering five different itineraries. Two of these focus on the Delhi-Rajasthan circuit while the other cover wider routes across India touching the most regal destinations.

From on-the-train luxury to off-the-train guided tours, this train is one of the best tourist trains in the world.

  • Palace on Wheels –

This was the original luxury tourist train of India. The inspiration came from the personal coaches that served the kings of Rajasthan, Nizams of Hyderabad, and of course, the Viceroys of the British Raj.

The coaches of these trains, the ‘Chambers’ or the ‘Saloons,’ bring a slice of royal life for the passengers. From personal attendants, air conditioning, satellite TV and internet connections, five-star toilet and room facilities are the essential part of the itinerary on board.

The Palace on Wheels along with the Maharaja Express has helped the tourism in Rajasthan flourish. The universal and timeless charm of these trains has made them a top seller in the Indian Railways repertoire.

  • The Royal Rajasthan on Wheels –

These trains exclusively cater to the tourists in Rajasthan looking for extra orbital experience. All the facilities, that define the luxury class train journeys, are present here, as well. The itinerary takes the passengers to the most colourful wildlife sites and iconic palaces of Rajasthan. The journey fittingly ends in Agra. Since the launch of the trains in 2009, passengers have shown great appreciation and favours to the journeys.

  • The Deccan Odyssey –

Indian luxury is not only about Rajasthan or the Raj. In 2004, the Maharashtra Tourism, along with the Taj Group’s help, launched the Deccan Odyssey itineraries. These trains offer a five-star luxury travel extravaganza covering various routes across western and south-western parts of the country.

From 3 nights’ stay to a full week’s sojourn, passengers can avail various itineraries based on travel routes. Gujarat, Maharashtra, parts of Karnataka as well as parts of Agra are covered by these routes. Wildlife to cultural tourism, spiritual to the historical journey – Deccan Odyssey will take you to themed holidays with unmatched luxury.

  • The Golden Chariot –

In 2008, Karnataka Tourism launched their flagship luxury trains, the Golden Chariot. The name comes from the iconic wheel of the temple in Hampi. These trains offer the quintessential luxury facilities like spa treatment, internet connectivity, etc.

The coaches are named after ancient kingdoms and the entire design and décor, just like all other luxury trains, revolve around the theme of India’s royalty. Passengers are taken to various historical and cultural sites in Karnataka and given guided tours.

  • The Kolkata Metro –

Indian Railways counts the Kolkata Metro service as a luxury service. And quite rightly so! The metro rails are the most preferred way of travelling in the busy city that saves time, effort, and of course, money. No wonder, all other metros are now following Kolkata Metro’s footstep for better intra-city transport ease.

Whether it’s vacation of a lifetime or a way of daily commute, the luxury trains of India make life easier in more than one way.

Indian Railway News, IRCTC

UTS Mobile Ticketing Service by Indian Railways

Leave a comment

The Hon’ble Minister of Railways inaugurated the UTS Mobile Ticketing services ( Unreserved Suburban Tickets ) on December 27th, 2014. UTS or the unreserved ticketing services were a promise by the Indian Railways in making the suburban rail commuting more convenient and trouble-free for the common passenger. 21 million people around the big cities in this country travel on a daily basis into and out of the city. The majority of them use the suburban railway system. In Mumbai, it is called the lifeblood of the city. The system is now operational and now can be used in the Mumbai and Chennai suburban railway systems.

The Registration Process –

First and foremost, those passengers, who would like to use this facility, would have to have a Smartphone. Currently, the smartphones with the Android operating system and the Windows operating systems offer the service. The other two main operating systems the ios and the Blackberry do not support the system. The logic behind that is that people, who use such a system, are generally not the ones who travel by suburban railways.

First, one will have to download the UTS mobile application from the application marketplace of the above two operating systems. The application has been built in-house by the CRIS, which stands for Centre for Railway Information Systems.

The registration can be done in two ways. The passenger can either do it from the mobile application itself or by using the website utsonmobile.indianrail.gov.in. In the registration process, the person will have to provide his or her mobile number, name, the city, the default booking train type, the class, the ticket type, the frequently travelled routes and the number of passengers.

The Railway Wallet –

The next thing that the passenger need to do is have a Railway wallet or as they are calling them R Wallet.

The railway wallet is the only method by which ticket can be purchased from the UTS mobile application. First and foremost, a passenger has to register himself or herself in the R wallet ecosystem. Then, they will have to link it to a mobile number. Initially, the railway wallet will show zero balance as one has not added any money to it.

The recharging process of the railway wallet is a very simple proposition. There are two ways of doing it. Either the passenger can approach the numerous UTS counters available in the suburban railway stations to recharge or he can visit the utsonmobile.indianrail.gov.in portal to recharge using a credit card, debit card or online banking system.

When a person is making a ticket booking, the application will check if there is enough balance in the r wallet to make the purchase. If there is, then it will make the booking, otherwise, it will prompt to recharge the R wallet. If one cancels the ticket, the amount deducted for the purchase of the ticket will be refunded to the R wallet.

The Train Travel –

After buying the tickets, one will need to carry the mobile phone with him while making the journey. Then when in the source station, the place from where one will start their journey, a passenger will have to locate an ATVM machine. These machines have been set up at all the stations to get printouts of the tickets booked via the mobile application. With this printout in your hand, you are ready to start your journey. Unfortunately, after taking a printout, you cannot cancel your journey.

The Advantages –

There are a number of advantages in using this system. Firstly, it is a much quicker process to book tickets, especially for the routes that you travel frequently. Next is that, one can book tickets for any suburban rail station! The third is that one can cancel a ticket if there is a change of plan. The fourth option is that the application maintains a log of the booked tickets so that you can rebook them quickly if you wish to, and finally, the application tracks your r wallet and tells you if you need to recharge it.

Indian Railways is a large network that caters to the tens of millions of customers every day. With innovations like UTS mobile ticketing service, the bond between the brand Railways and the passengers become a little better.

Indian Railway Map, Indian Railway News

Indian Railways Structure: Zones & Division

Leave a comment

The history of the railways with innumerable twists and turns, stories of influence and opinions, debates over the advantages and disadvantages is a tale of how a nation as big as India comes together.

The Beginning –

The saga of Indian Railways began in the 1900s as an attempt to bind the nation into one connected piece of land. In 1853, the Bombay-Thane railway was the very first railway on the Indian soil.

Since then, there was no looking back. By the 1930s, India was well-connected with rail stations and routes. After the independence, the Indian Railways has undergone some structural changes. Also, we have gotten smaller zones and subdivisions for better service and management. That’s why with a mind blowing 68 divisions, Indian Railways is one of the widest networks in the world.

Indian Railway Zones & Sub Zones/Divisions-

Indian Railways has 17 zones and each zone has many divisions. The divisions have their own headquarters, operational workshops and management. It is one well-oiled organization and looking at the vastness of the entire operations, you can’t help feeling overwhelmed.

1. Central (CR) –

This zone was created after independence in 1951. The head quarter is located in Mumbai. The zone consists of Mumbai, Pune, Bhusawal, Nagpur and Solapur.

2. Eastern(ER) –

Right after the Central Zone, the government took up the job of re-designing the country’s eastern and northern railways divisions for better management. The Eastern Zone was created, as a result, in 1952. Head quartered at Kolkata, the zone includes Howrah, Asansol, Malda and Sealdah stations.

3. Northern (NR) –

This zone was also created in 1952. Having Delhi as its head quarter, the zone includes Ambala, Firozpur, Moradabad, Lucknow and Udhampur.

4. North Eastern (NER) –

Created in 1952, the zone includes Izzatnagar and Benaras. The head quarter is at Gorakhpur.

5. South Eastern (SER) –

This zone was created in 1955 in order to handle the densely populated areas of the eastern part of the country. Head quartered at Kolkata, the zone covers Ranchi, Chakradharpur, Kharagpur and Adra.

6. Northeast Frontier(NFR) –

Created in 1958, this zone plays a crucial role in maintaining communication throughout the north east region. The head quarter is at Guwahati and the zone covers major junctions in the area like Tinsukia, Lumding, Silchar, Alipurduar, Kathiar and Rangia.

7. Eat Central (ECR) –

Created recently in 2002, this zone has lessened the loads of Northern and Eastern Zones to a great extent. Head quartered at Hajipur, the zone covers Danapur, Mughalsarai, Samastipur, Dhanbad and Sonpur.

8. East Coast (ECoR) –

In 2003, this zone was created to connect and improve management of railways in the coastal areas of the east. The head quarter is at Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha and the zone covers Visaskapattanam, Sambalpur and Khurda Road.

9. North Central (NCR) –

The population explosion in the northern parts of the country has led to the division of the great state of Uttar Pradesh into smaller states. And as a continuation to that administrative endeavour this zone covering Jhansi, Allahabad and Agra was created in 2003. The head quarter is at Allahabad.

10. North Western (NWR) –

In 2002, this zone was created with the head quarter in Jaipur. The zone covers the major cities in Rajasthan like Ajmer, Bikaner and Jodhpur. Creation of this zone has helped tourism to flourish in Rajasthan with proper focus of hospitality and service quality.

11. West Central (WCR) –

Created in 2003, the zone covers Bhopal and Kota along with the head quarter at Jabalpur.

12. Southern (SR) –

This zone was created in 1951 as an original railway zone after the independence. Head quartered at Chennai, the zone today covers Tiruchirappalli, Salem, Madurai, Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad.

13. South Central (SCR) –

Created in 1966, head quartered in Secunderabad, the zone covers Nanded, Guntur, Parbhani, Hyderabad, Guntakal and Vijayawada.

14. South East Central (SECR) –

Created in 2003, the zone covers Raipur and Nagpur along with the head quarter at Bilaspur.

15. South Western (SWR) –

Created in 2003, head quartered at Hubli, the zone covers Bangalore and Mysore.

16. Western (WR) –

Created in 1951, head quartered at Mumbai, this zone covers Mumbai Central, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Ratlam, Vadodara, Bhavnagar and Gandhidham.

With these many zones, the Indian Railways is truly an amazing network that keeps our country alive and thriving.

Indian Railway News, IRCTC

IRCTC Helps Make Train Journey Easier and Hassle-Free

Leave a comment

IRCTC is an integral part of Indian Railways. It provides a complete service to international tourists and domestic travelers in India. It handles catering, hospitality, tourism and online train tickets services. Read on to get complete information about this division of Indian Railways.

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) is a subsidiary division of Indian Railways. Set up by the Ministry of Railways, it handles entire catering and tourist activity and online ticketing options of the Indian railways. The company provides its services with the help of public-private participation. The aim of IRCT is to enhance customer services by facilitating railway catering, hospitality, travel and tourism services in a professionalized and innovative ways.

Objectives of the Company:
IRCTC looks forward to emerging as a customer-friendly organization through constant innovation, human resource development and advanced technology. It increases manpower productivities and optimizes resources with its quality product vending and innovative marketing strategies. The company strives to imbibe ethical and strong work culture by maintaining teamwork, building and repositioning Indian Railways in the comprehensive service sector.

Services – IRCTC provides a wide range of services;

1. Tourism –
We cannot deny the fact that there has been excellent growth of Railway Tourism in India. Since inception, IRCTC has made vibrant marketing strategy with state tourism and top tour operators in order to provide exclusive tour packages across the country. For improved tourism purposes in India, this company makes arrangement for train coaches, full train charters and reserved berth programs as well.

The company also provides budget and deluxe package tours for domestic and international tourists. It provides budget tourists with special package, which is called “Bharat Darshan”. This package covers all important tourist places in the country.

In addition, this railway division also provides luxury tour packages that include special luxury trains such as Royal Orient Express, Palace on Wheels, Deccan Odyssey and many others. Apart from all these, one can also book adventure tourism packages at IRCTC. The adventure tourism packages comprise of wildlife and adventure treks and water sports.

2. Online Indian Railway Ticketing –

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation provides internet-based rail ticket. Any person can book tickets for anywhere in India through its website or from the mobile app powered by IRCTC. The company also deals in offering I-tickets. This type of ticket is just like normal ticket. The only difference is that you can book it online and the tickets will be delivered to you by post.

With a view to make e-ticketing book facility easier, IRCTC has launched a scheme, which is called Rolling Deposit Scheme (RDS). This scheme enables passengers to reserve seats against advance money kept with the corporation.

3. Indian Railway Tatkal Ticket Scheme –

IRCTC provides Tatkal scheme to passengers. Under this scheme, one can plan his or her journey at short notice. The scheme allows passengers to book their tickets in every Express/ Mail trains through the Indian railways website. The booking for tatkal ticket begins at 10:00 am daily. However, one can book the tickets under this scheme one day before departure of the train from source station.

Those who travel on Tatkal tickets are required to carry a photo ID proof.  Carrying a photo ID proof is mandatory for the passengers who are traveling on Tatkal scheme.

Conclusion –

The bottom line is that IRCTC is playing a major role in making train journey hassle-free and cost-effective. Customer can dial its call center number 139 from anywhere in the country and get all information about any trains from Indian Railways.

Indian Railway News, IRCTC

Break Journey Rules of IRCTC – Know Them Before Booking Your Train Tickets

Leave a comment
Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC) is a Public Sector Enterprise. It functions under the Ministry of Railways.  The objective of IRCTC is to modify, amend, upgrade and manage the hospitality and catering services at railway stations, in every train and other locations. The company promotes domestic and international tourism by launching special tour packages, providing budget hotels to tourists, and giving them proper information about Indian railways.

You can use IRCTC portal to book train tickets online, know train running status, check your PNR status, and get the Indian railway timetable information and much more.

Apart from all these services, IRCTC provides you with facilities of traveling for a long distance by breaking your journey. Yes, IRCTC offers ‘break journey’ facility to train passenger.

Read this article and know ‘break journey rules’ of the IRCTC –

If you have a single ticket for a journey, and this journey will cover a distance of more than 500 kilometers, you will be allowed to break your journey once for two days at any station en-route. You can avail this facility only after traveling 500 kilometers from the starting station.

If you are going to travel for a distance of more than 1000 kilometers, you can enjoy parting your trip twice. Only you have to remember the departure and arrival date. Exclude these days while calculating the number of eligible days for first break of your journey. Ticket should be endorsed by the station manager/ticket collector at the station where this journey is intended.

IRCTC does not allow this facility to passengers who have booked their tickets in Shatbadi/ Rajdhani/Jan shatbadi express trains. However, for booking tickets in other express trains, you will need to inform the ticket booking office about your intention of traveling in intervals at the time of booking your ticket as you cannot avail this facility after getting the reservation.

Important Notice –
Blow is key information about the rules of break journey. Know them if you want to enjoy this facility:

• You cannot enjoy the break journey facility if you want to book a single ticket for 800 kilometers and want to have a pause in your trip for two days at 423 kilometers.

• You can be permitted once for maximum 2 days stoppage at 501 kilometers only if you have a ticket for 600 kilometers.

• If you have a single journey ticket for 1050 kilometers and you want to break your travel at 400 kilometers and 801 kilometers, you will be given only one break at 801 kilometers for maximum of 2 days.

• If you have a single ticket for the journey of 2000 kilometers and you want a break  at 800 kilometers, 905 kilometers and 1505 kilometers, then you can have only two break journey depending on your per choice at the rate of two days maximum at each point of break journey.

Recommendation –

This is advisable to please visit the official website of IRCTC to get complete information about the ‘break journey rules’ as Indian railways makes certain changes in its policies.