Category Archives: Indian Rail Info

Indian Rail Info

A Learning Experience for Indian Railways

Leave a comment

“Festivals” are a dominant part of our lifestyle and culture in India. If you are someone who lives far away from your family, festivals provide you a great opportunity to meet your family. You have to get disappointed when you check out for the indian railway reservation seat availability enquiry, if you don’t plan in advance at such times. It shouldn’t be a big concern for you if you are ready to travel by air. However, we don’t want you to pay some extra bucks, when you can get the job done for much less than that. Of late, this scenario is slowly changing. Availing train tickets for short distances (400 to 700 kms) have become relatively easier than getting air tickets.

What were you doing on the last Dussehra…?

The valid example for the above point made would be the time of Dussehra in 2015. All the students from schools and colleges, employees from offices were granted holidays for a week. A huge crowd and high demand for the railways was anticipated. However, much to the surprise of railway officials and travelers, train enquiry seat availability revealed that many coaches were running with vacant seats. On the other hand, the air tickets were simply unavailable. Another interesting point to be noted here is that the fare of executive class train ticket is barely a couple of hundreds cheaper than the air ticket for the same distance!

image15

Wondering what could the reason for this…?

You might have taken by surprise as you have skipped through the above lines. Now, check the factors which greatly influenced this scenario:

  • Fall in crude oil prices: The majority of the credit goes to the marginal fall of crude oil prices in the recent past years. This fall in prices has allowed the air lines to lower their fares without affecting its profit significantly.
  • New railway connections: Indian railways have put their efforts to establish multiple connections between different cities. The targeted tracks were the cities, which were 400 to 700 kilometers apart. The passengers are left numerous options in railways than in airways for the same route. This has divided the railway traffic.

The combination of above stated factors have made the passengers to chose air ways even though the fares of railways was just marginally lower than that of airways.

Something to learn for our railway authorities:

This incident has provided the necessity to revive the existing railway system. Plans are made to implement a dynamic fare fixing system in our railways. Before taking decisions on increasing the capacity by introducing new lines, the traffic managers should analyze the existing competitive market and anticipate the possible abnormal passenger behavior. Special care has to be taken in the phase, where crude oil prices are relatively lower. The air ways try to exploit this low price by decreasing the fares. Apart from these issues, Indian railways has also stepped ahead to make complete use of growing IT in India. The online ticket sales platform has made the ticket booking cancellation procedures relatively easy. In the long run, Indian railways have aimed to increase the standards of trains and stations.

Indian Rail Info

Railways Announced Special Trains for Holi 2016!

Leave a comment

Holi festival is just around the corner and most of us are all set to visit our relatives for this season. The Indian Railways has already announced a list of exclusive trains to keep the rush comfortable. Northern, Central, Eastern and Konkan railway are all set to run these special trains for the passengers. The idea behind this is to keep the rush in control during the festive time. If you are planning to travel from one of these railway lines, here is more information you need: –

  1. Northern Railway –

    The Northern railway will be running weekly special trains between the Gorakhpur and Bandra line from the 3rd to the 31st of March for Holi. The festival is falling on 23rd March this year, and since people will start travelling early, the trains are already in action. These weekly trains have several stops in between like, Basti, Barabanki, Kanpur Central, Lucknow, Kannauj. Mathura Jn, Kota, Vodadora, Surat, Borivali, etc. There is also going to be two exclusive trains from Bhubaneswar and Patna, Puri and Bhanjapur. These will run on Fridays, which is the March 18th and on the 25th. The Patna – Bhubaneswar one will be on Saturdays, which is the March 19th and the 26th. The former train will be discontinued from March 26th.modified-1400-hp-engine
  2. Central Railway –

    The Central Railway will be running from and to Mumbai to various different locations during this festive time. Most of the trains will be halting at Thane station. The railway line has started running trains from March 4th to Nagpur, Gorakhpur, Bhatni and Karmali. The LokmanyaTilak Terminus to Karmali train will run on March 18th and 25th. There are also going to trains from CST station to Karmali to CST again, which are weekly specials. These trains are scheduled from March 19th to 26th. On March 21st and 28thspecial train from CST to Gorkhapur will run for the people, who are travelling to the north side. From March 18th to 26th, weekly specials from LTT to BhatniJn will run and LTT to Nagpur special trains will run on March 22nd and 29th…
  3. Eastern Railway –

    To make the rush a little less, the Eastern Railway too will be running 3 sets of exclusive trains on these routes – Kolkata – Gorakhpur – Asansol, Howrah – RaxaulJansadharan Holi Special and Howrah – Patna Jansadharan Holi Special. The Kolkata- Gorakhpur train will run on March 21st. The Howrah- Patna train will run on the March 20th and the Howrah- Raxaul train will run on March 22nd. All these trains will run back and forth, so passengers can come back to the city or go to another through the same routes.
  4. Konkan Railway – The Konkan Railway hasn’t stepped behind in supporting with the rush control during Holi festival. A special train from Madgaon to Mumbai CST to Madgaon will run on the 8th of March. This train will be halting at several spots in between like Karmali, Kudal, Ratnagiri, Khed, Chiplun, Panvel, Dadar, Thane, etc.

If you are planning to head out of your city for Holi, you have a bunch of incredible trains at your service.

Indian Rail Info, Indian Railway News

The Tatkal rules and regulations

Leave a comment

The change in the Tatkal Booking system: Be more alert

The mass transportation plays a vital role in the development of any country. The same applies to India as well. There are different modes of mass transportation available, but the most preferred mode is the Railway only. Therefore, those who love to go for a long route journey prefer to travel by railway only. However, there are a few norms for the ticket booking which one must follow and as the changes to the system can affect one’s plan one needs to be a little alert.

However, in the case of a well-planned journey it is possible for one to book the ticket in advance, but what about those who need to travel on an emergency basis? Well, there is an arrangement of the Department of Railway, which is known as a Tatkal Booking system. Here one may ask what is the time for tatkal booking? But in response to it, one must know the latest changes brought into effect by the department.

Nowadays the tatkal booking is possible only before the twenty-four hours of the journey which was previously forty-eight hours. The booking starts at sharp 10 AM and hence for one who wants to book a ticket, must keep the browser open so that as soon as the booking starts, he can try and get it immediately before the server gets busy and some of the tickets are sold. For a passenger who needs to go for an emergency, this is the best option to go for a long route train.

The Tatkal charges and tickets according to Indian Railways have been changed after year 2014. It has been fixed as a proportion of train fares at the rate of ten percent of the basic second class train fares and 30 percent of the basic fares for all the other classes. There is a calculation of this thing.

The Tatkal Scheme varies with each class. Here is a basic idea given below.

For Second sittings, the charges are Rs. 10 extra for children and Rs. 15 for Adults. For Sleepers, it is Rs. 90 and Rs. 175 respectively. In case of AC Chair Cars, it is Rs.250 and Rs. 350. AC 2 tiers have a cost of Rs. 300 and Rs. 400 respectively and for Executive Classes; they are Rs. 300 and Rs. 400 again.

The other rules that needs to be followed

  • Tatkal tickets are issued only for the actual distance that are needed to be covered and are subject to the distance limit applicable on the train in which the ticket is issued. One berth can be booked by many passengers on a tatkal basis at multiple legs. When the final preparation chart is made, the unutilized berths of a train are released to the Waiting List and General RAC candidates.
  • The Tatkal bookings open at 10 AM in the morning for the AC Classes and at 11AM for the Non AC classes on one day advance from the exact date of journey of a given train. For example, if a train is leaving on 6th of November, the counter for Tatkal opening will be opened at 10 AM and 11 AM respectively on 5th of November.
  • No Tatkal duplicate tickets are issued in any chance. This is because; these tickets are bought only in exceptional cases and with full payment of ticket fare and the extra Tatkal charges on it.
  • Tatkal ticket booking does not need any kind of identity proof when the booking is done. But yes, during the time of journey, the passenger needs to show an original identity proof to the TT’s or officials. It can either be a Voter identity card or a Pan card or a Driving License or a Passport or an Aadhar Card.
  • Even for internet ticket bookings for Tatkal purposes, the passenger should enter the identity proof type and number, which they will be using for travel. These details shall be printed on the ERS/indicated on the VRM/MRM as well as in the reservation chart.
  • For every PNR number, there can be a maximum of four passengers and not more than that.

The refund procedure

No refund is given when you cancel the confirmed Tatkal tickets. But if the train gets late by more than 3 hours at the origin point of the journey & not the point where the passenger has to board the train if both the points originating boarding are different, then the passenger gets full refund.

These are the basics which should be known for the right guidance in the case of booking a tatkal ticket.

Tatkal Charges before journey starting date 24.12.2015

Class of Travel Minimum Tatkal Charges (in Rs.) Maximum Tatkal Charges (in Rs.)
Second (sitting) 10.00 15.00
Sleeper 90.00 175.00
AC Chair Car 100.00 200.00
AC 3 Tier 250.00 350.00
AC 2 Tier 300.00 400.00
Executive 300.00 400.00

 

Tatkal Charges applicable for journey starting from 24.12.2015 onwards

Class of Travel Minimum Tatkal Charges (in Rs.) Maximum Tatkal Charges

(in Rs.)

 Minimum Distance for charge(in Km)
Reserve Second sitting (2S) 10.00 15.00 100
Sleeper 100.00 200.00 500
AC Chair Car 125.00 225.00 250
AC 3 Tier 300.00 400.00 500
AC 2 Tier 400.00 500.00 500
Executive 400.00 500.00 250
Indian Rail Info

Railway Concessions Are Only To The Deserved…!!

Leave a comment

The Indian Railways is all set to start in a new phase. Luxury trains have come into wide use. Slowly and steadily, the existing system is being modified, to make its services effective. The rules of senior citizen quota and concession are revised to put an end to its misuse. The facilities provided to the senior citizens are extended in this regard. Men aged above 60 and women aged above 58 can avail concession of fare in any train class. This concession in fare is provided up to 40% for men and 50% for women.  These facilities provided to senior citizen’s isn’t just confined to the concession in ticket fares. Check out the other benefits provided in this context:

train seat availability

  • In the passenger reservation system (PRS), senior citizens and women above 45 years of age will be allotted with lower berths in the train.
  • Senior citizens, women above 45 years and pregnant women can be benefitted with a combined quota of two lower berths.
  • Much to the delight of the physically challenged people, wheelchairs are provided at railway stations.
  • There will be separate counters to issue tickets to the senior citizens at PRS centers.

The current system of booking is so designed that you don’t have to carry the proof of age when you are booking the tickets. However, you have to provide them at the time of inspection. You can provide any government issued identity card as proof of age. Failing to provide the age proof on demand, a fine, which is equal to the difference between the fares will be charged against the passenger. The Indian railways have found the services being misused in the following ways extensively:

  • While booking tickets, since the passenger doesn’t have to provide any age proof, he/she books the ticket by providing wrong age. Many a times they go undetected, which results in huge revenue loss to the railways.
  • The lower berths are booked under the disguise of senior citizens. When detected, the passenger pays the difference in fares.
  • The travel agents out there are highly exploiting these services. The tickets are booked under senior citizens quota and further these agents modify the age and fare in the e-ticket. The passenger fails to notice this and falls into their trap. It is because of such reasons, the Indian railways are trying hard to put an end to these agents.

Pay close to these aspects, when you are checking out for the train seat availability. In accordance with the above issues, the Indian railways have announced its modified rules. They are as follows:

  • The ticket fare is also included in the PNR status.
  • If any passenger is found misusing the senior citizen quota, that particular person will be treated as ticketless and charges are made accordingly.
  • If found guilty, a penalty is charged against the passenger in addition to the fare difference.

Clear instructions are also passed to the ticket checking staff regarding this issue. The staff members are expected to be patient when dealing with such passengers. The customers can report to the designated authorities if they are harassed by the ticket checking staff.

Indian Rail Info

High Speed Trains Are Ready To Set The Tracks On Fire…!

Leave a comment

Indian railways, with its track line of 65,000 kilometers and operating 19,000 trains a day has turned out to be a key means of transport in India for longer distances. Introduction of high speed rails can take the might of railways to a next level. It can do a great favor to passengers, railways and is also to environment. These trains have speeds of about 300 kmph and can often cross the speed limit of 450 kmph. The countries which have well developed networks of HSR have witnessed a significant impact on various commercial aspects. Let’s have a deeper insight into these trains.

Opportunities and Hurdles:

Taking example of Japan, it has to face various financial, cultural and technological hurdles to make the bullet trains a reality. There are a lot of things, which India can learn from the experiences of Japan in this context.

  • Financial:

    “How much is it going to cost us..?” This is a common question which strikes everyone. Though it can’t be stated firmly, we can say that it requires huge fixed capital to get started. Comparing the costs of various HSR nations can give us a better picture of this aspect.

  • Technology: The Indian railways have to make use of advanced technology to lay new tracks, establish signaling systems, bring in new engines, design and manufacture electrical systems and compartments. Unlike the orthodox railways, these trains are to be completely isolated from the external environment. This is because the high speed trains can pull the people or cattle into it resulting in disasters.
  • Energy: These trains run on electricity. There are many advantages of using electrical energy and the one which worth mentioning is the low consumption of energy. Unlike other automobiles and aero planes, renewable energy sources can be used to power up these trains. One can easily estimate the operational cost and monitor carbon foot print.TH10_CHINA_HIGH_SP_1390388f

Advantages of High Speed Trains:

Energy efficient: Travel by rail is always the best means of transport for long distance travelling in dense areas or in places where the fuel cost is relatively high. High speed trains have proved to be highly fuels efficient per passenger per kilometer. In comparison to other vehicles of this kind, they can transport large number of passengers in a quick time.

Safety: These trains can be handled and controlled with ease. Its predictable course is the reason behind it. It is to be noted that the high speed rails can’t eliminate collisions but its chances can be minimized.

Convenience: These trains can fetch appreciable comfort to the passengers as they can move freely in the train while travelling. The change in weather has least effect on the train travel in this context. Major storms, heavy snow or fog can cause significant effect to these train travels. The vibrations are minimized by the continuously welded rails.

As the first step towards high speed rails, eight routes were identified across various parts of the country, which consists of major cities like Pune, Mumbai, Delhi, Agra, Chennai, Hyderabad, etc. On completion of this project, you can experience this amazing journey by tracking the current train status of these high speed trains in the official website of Indian railways.

Indian Rail Info

Facts about Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus we bet you didn’t know!

Leave a comment

Out of all the major railway junctions of India, the most popular one is the CST. The Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, previously known as the Victoria Terminus or VT, is Mumbai’s biggest railway station. It is a UNESCO world heritage site and also the headquarters of the Central Railway, which has many interesting facts to its name. Let us read a few.

The first railway station of the country:

On 16th April, 1853, the iconic first passenger train of the country was operated by the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. It covered a distance of 40kms from Borivali to Thane, and gave birth to the Indian Railways. CST was eventually named as Victoria Terminus after the then Queen, but subsequently came to be popularly known as the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, after the Maratha 17th century king. CST is also one of the oldest railway stations all over the world. Most particular aspect of the station is the dome, seen in many famous Bollywood movies. After the 26/11 attacks, the beauty of the station was partially diminished. Damaged portions were rebuilt and the station is as beautiful as before.

The reason for constructing the station:

The station was designed by the famous designer Frederick William Stevens. Also, influences from the Victorian and Gothic revival along with the traditional Mughal architecture, was used in the construction. The station was constructed in 1887 to mark the Golden Jubilee of the great Queen Victoria. It was after the construction of this station that the railway became popular in India.

Total time taken in its construction:

Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus took a total of 10 years for its completion. This is the longest time taken for constructing any railway station in India. The station is an architectural landmark built in the Gothic-revival architecture as the headquarters for the central Railway. The brilliant architect has been there for over a 100 years. The station is always very crowded with over 200 trains running to and from the station daily.

The renaming of the station in 1996:

The Railway Minister of India, Suresh Kalmadi, in 1996, changed the name Victoria Terminus to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus after the leader and founder of the great Maratha dynasty, Chhatrapati Shivaji. However, even now, most people call it as VT station, especially the taxi drivers of Mumbai.

The total number of commuters:

Along with being a UNESCO world heritage site, this Terminus is the very soul of the commercial capital. Every single day, around 3 million commuters use the station for traveling either to the various suburbs of the city or to anywhere else in the country. The local train passengers outnumber the express train passengers. The local trains itself are a pride of Mumbai.

If you are planning a visit to Mumbai from a distant place, get your Indian railways reservation online.

It is said that a visit to Mumbai is incomplete without seeing the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. So even if you go by flight, do not miss to visit the railway station!

Indian Rail Info

Google India to provide Wi-Fi in every train!

Leave a comment

People these days are glued to their phones and most youngsters travel by the train for college and work. Since at some stations the signals are awfully low, Wi-Fi can help. Well, Indians railways will soon have high speed Wi-Fi in trains across 400 stations in India.

modi-sundar alt twitter
Google will be helping the rail sector to get Wi-Fi for all the convenient stations across the country. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited the U.S headquarters of Google and asked them to participate to help India become Digital; Google India too has taken a major step to help the people, who want access to the web.

The Indian Railways operated one of the largest rail networks and Rail Tel, Google’s team is working on bringing high speed internet to major stations in the next few months. The CEO of Google India has stated that the network will expand in a jiffy and reach some of the busiest stations across the country by the end of 2016. He also added that the speed is going to be fast and will have no problems at all.

People who are bored whilst travelling will soon be able to enjoy and download games, videos, movies, songs and much more by this Wi-Fi network. Google India is also planning to expand at almost every station possible with the help of Rail Tel and other partners, in the coming future.

Google had also launched the Android One in the previous year to help all the people to get access of smartphones and internet to explore and learn more. They have also made YouTube and Google Maps available offline plus you can download web pages faster without spending your data balance. There is nothing Google isn’t doing to help the people.

Not just all this but to also help those who cannot read or speak English, Google India had launched the Indian Language Internet Alliance in the previous year. This service has been helping a lot of people who do not have any access to English language. Hindi searches, keyboards and supports have made it easier for every person to use the web pages.

We are sure this Wi-Fi project is going to make life easier for everyone travelling daily by the trains. This is also a good mode for the safety of women and young kids, who have internet features in their phones. People will soon be able to quickly Google search any emergency numbers and contacts when they need it.

Indian Rail Info

Hybrid vacuum toilets are in works!

Leave a comment

The Railway Board has a new idea to incorporate vacuum and Bio toilets. This new type of toilet will be known as the ‘hybrid vacuum toilet.’ Stinking washrooms have always been an issue in every train. More and more passengers are becoming hygiene conscious these days. On Monday, a trail run of the vacuum toilets was launched on Dibrugarh Rajdhani. There will be an observation made for few days regarding this new service.

indian railway

The hybrid vacuum toilet has been fitted in the First AC coach. This service has cost around 3 lakh and it is also equipped with bio-digester system. Many who have travelled by aircrafts are aware about vacuum toilets.

According to the plan decided, the railway sector will be installing 80 hybrid vacuum toilets on Shatabdi Express. The rail sector has floated worldwide tenders for the installation of the toilets at a cost of around Rs. 25 crore. Multinational companies from across the world like USA, Spain, Germany and Denmark have also shown keen interest in the installing project, stated an official who is a part of the project.

The best part about the entire project is that the toilets are environment-friendly and the consumption of water will be lesser than before. Also, the cleanliness factor matters a lot. The same vacuum toilet will be installed at New Delhi Railway station also. For now, trains like Shatabdi and Rajdhani have been equipped with the bio toilets featuring controlled discharge system. An official, who is part of this project, stated that the waste automatically gets discharged after the trains gain the speed of 30 km per hour thus preventing the disposal at the stations.

Till now 17,388 toilets have been replaced with the new bio-toilets. More 17,000 will be replaced by the end of the year.

This is a good way to save water since a conventional toilet takes up 10 to 12 litres of water per flush whereas a vacuum toilet only takes up around 500 ml of water per flush. Most of the foreign countries use the vacuum toilet system in their trains. And since the Indian Railways are all set to modernize and change the railway systems in India, this change was important and will be helpful.

Indian Rail Info

Japan ready to invest $140 billion for modernizing 400 railway stations in India

Leave a comment

Indian railways are soon going to become different, modern and better! Japan is going to contribute towards modernizing 400 railway stations all across the country. Not just this, but Japan will also invest $140 billion for Indian Railways in the next five years.

The project is all set to begin and the first step is going to be of studying opportunities. A Japanese delegation is going to visit India anytime soon and research and see what opportunities are there for the industries in the development plans for Indian Railways. 400 stations will be upgraded across India.

kathgodam-railway-station

Suresh Prabhu, India’s Railway Minister was recently in Japan and he discussed to make cooperation in order to strengthen the rail sector. He had several high level conferences with Mr. Shinzo Abe, the Japanese PM, Taro Aso Deputy PM and Finance Minister with few other seniors and ministers. Suresh Prabhu highlighted that Indian Railways needs to be a major destination towards infrastructure investment.

The discussion also included the fact that certain areas of the railways need to be modernized and there has to be technological upgrade with the help of Japanese railways and companies. Japan has agreed to modernise and upgrade. Other than that, they have also agreed in assisting India’s public transport in reaching the zero-accident mission.

A MoU will be signed by the Research Designs & Standards Organisation with the Railway Technical Research Institute of Japan to start out the project and researches to finalise the plan.

Mr. Prabhu had also held few other meetings with the heads of some of the leading financial institutions in which he highlighted the investment plan for the Indian Railways. Apart from modernizing and developing railway stations, Japan will also help the Indian rail sector in providing expert tips and technology to maintain sanitation issues and also to develop clean, odourless toilets at the stations and in the trains.

Not just this but the country is also planning out developments in Indian Railways for high speed railway in India.

We hope that Suresh Prabhu, who is on a two-nation trip to Japan and Korea since the 7th of September gears in Korea to provide investments and resources for the development of Indian Railways.

 

Indian Rail Info, Indian Railway Time Table, IRCTC, Running Train Status, Trains

Easy ways to make train reservations!

Leave a comment

If you are confused on how to make train reservations then keep reading. We know that it might not be easy for some of you to decide on the trains, check the timings, and check the seats and so on. You can always book your tickets on the IRCTC website. But make sure you make the reservations in advance since most of the trains are usually booked for months.

If you have had troubles booking your train tickets, then here is a guide for help: –

  • You can check train seat availability on TravelKhana’s official website to know if the train you want to travel has any seats left. Once you find the name and number of the train you are going to travel from, select your berth. Other than checking the seats, you can use their train tracking system to check the status of the train at all times.
  • Make sure you enter the right details of the station you will start from to the station you will get off at.
  • If the trains do not have the class you want then be open to the others. Do not be picky because sometimes it can be tough to find seats on trains in your desired class.
  • Always book in advance. You always have the option of cancellation. So do not worry. Booking 3 to 4 months in advance is always better than booking at the last minute.
  • Make sure you note the number and name of the train you will be travelling from. Also if you want to check the time or want to track your train, then you can go to TravelKhana or download their mobile app for train tracker This will help in to manage your time since you can see when you train will arrive.
  • Other than booking the train, it is important to make sure you have booked for food too. You do not have to compromise for the unhygienic and tasteless food they provide on the train. Instead you can book amazing and different cuisines and snacks from travelkhana.com. They have a wide variety of cuisines and snacks you can pick from. So once you have confirmed your train tickets, you can go and book for some hygienic and tasty food too. If you miss out on booking in advance for the food, do not fret. You can always use the mobile app to book any food item you want while in the train too. TravelKhana has great and quick services. You will receive your food on time even if you book at the last moment too.
  • Other than reservations, make sure you pack your bags well and carry fewer loads on the trains. It is not easy to manage everything if you are travelling for the first time by trains. Wear comfortable clothes and shoes, carry all your gadgets and keep them safe, keep your money safe and make sure you carry wet wipes and tissues with you.

Live Status of Running Train

Train travelling is not easy until and unless you are on a luxury train. So always be prepared, reserve your tickets beforehand and do not forget to book good food via TravelKhana.