Are you frustrated with the snail pace at which information on the position of trains is provided by Indian Railways? This is especially true of passengers wishing to disembark from trains, as well as those waiting on platforms to get on trains or want to receive certain passengers.

Now, Indian Railways cannot be fully to blame. It is one of the biggest and most complex rail networks in the world. 23 million passengers need to be ferried across over 7000 stations daily with clockwork precision in all corners of the country. This means there are inevitable delays, cancellations and rescheduling of trains.

Therefore, information on Indian railway live running status is vital for the general public as it saves them time and energy. The traditional method of train enquiry live status has been through the phone lines with numbers like 139, 131, etc. People using this facility were frustrated as these numbers would be busy at all times and difficult to get through.

But the best mode nowadays is through online sources and SMS. Some of the online sources of train details are as follows:

• com: This is the official website of the Indian railways. Train running status online live information is provided by this site. Train live running information is now available at the click of a mouse and in a user-friendly fashion. The Enhanced National Train Enquiry system has won a national award for providing useful information on Indian rail live running status.

A ‘spot your train’ facility is provided by this website. Log in and provide train number, journey / boarding/ arrival date and journey/ boarding/ arrival station.  You will get a comprehensive feedback on expected departure, queried station, current position, expected departure and last updated station.
Facility of ‘Live station update” requires you to key in details of stations to get name of the trains, type of train, time limit, etc.

Facility of “Train schedule,” which needs you to feed in the train number and get the feedback on, scheduled arrival, station, day, scheduled  departure, as well as distance between stops.
‘Trains rescheduled’ is a service where you provide start date and train number. You will get a list of rescheduled trains and train number, train name, source, destination, train type, etc. You can get a list of trains diverted and trains cancelled.

Nowadays, the service of travelenquiry.com is available on your Smartphone. The website is compatible with all smart phones and one can track train running status live.

• Rail radar: In October 2012, Indian railways launched ‘Rail radar’, a live train tracking system which runs on Google Maps. It is an improvement over earlier tracking system called as ‘spot your train.” The Rail Radar’s opening screen contains a map of India, which features details of all trains running. On the top right are indications of a number of trains tracked, as well as those running on time. One can zoom in or zoom out using the mouse or by selecting + or – buttons on the left side. The panel on the left has also facility to track specific trains. One can also search using stations. Trains running on time are depicted in blue and those running late are indicated in red. Clicking on a particular train will reveal its route, as well as current live status.

• E Train.info: Enter simple information like train name or train number to track live train running status. This will give feedback on route, as well as current train running status. Provide station name to track arrival to and departure from stations.

• IRCTC site: The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation provide a website that can track position of trains live as well as many other details that are useful for train travel. Get on to irctc.co.in. Enter details like destination (To and from). The site will immediately provide details of trains running between stations. Click on the train you need to track and get the correct position of that train. The website also provides details like last two stations crossed by the train and next two trains to reach, as well as the time taken for both.

• Travelkhana.com : This portal is primarily in the business of train food delivery but has now diversified into areas like ticket booking, checking set availability and live tracking of trains, etc. Live tracking of trains is useful for the website also as it has to coordinate the delivery of meals at various stations to reach it to the customer at his seat. A method for using the site is as follows: There is a box for keying in train name or train number, right at the top. Move on to a drop down menu that shows stations. Now you must choose either arrival or departure time. You will get the live status of the train and the location of the train on the map. It is also possible to auto-track the train. This useful service helps both passengers on trains, as well as those waiting to board. Those waiting to receive passengers also like this service as they can coordinate their timing with that of the actual arrival of the train. For information on trains or to place an order for food, one can log onto www.travelkhana.com. A Customer care executive will also respond to your queries and orders at helpline: 0-8800-31-31-31. This service is provided from 7 am to 10 pm. Food is delivered by cash on delivery and no extra charge. To track trains, one must provide train name, train number, PNR number and station name for a quick update on current position of trains. As information is regularly updated, you need to key in details every time you wish to refresh the information.

These are some of the ways by which modern technology helps in tracking trains on the humungous network of Indian Railways.