ECONOMY

Indian Railways top 10 FAQs; also check irctc.co.in, indianrail.gov.in

Indian railways

Indian Railways is a massive undertaking and people tend to get confused in trying to access the information they want. To help end the confusion and ensure every customer gets a top experience, Indian Railways has put in public sphere frequently asked questions (FAQs) and their answers to ensure a smooth journey for passengers each and every time. Here are top 10 FAQs:

Q 1. What are the various Indian Railways classes of travel and their codes?      
A. The system recognizes the following classes of travel:
Class Code
First class Air-Conditioned
Executive class in Shatabdi trains IA
AC 2-tier sleeper 2A
First class FC
AC 3 Tier 3A
AC chair Car CC
Sleeper Class SL
Second Sitting 2S

Q 2. What are the various Indian Railways Quotas available for booking through Internet?   
A. At present, Internet booking is allowed only against General (GN),Tatkal, Senior citizen and Ladies (LD) Quotas.
          
Q 3. How do I find out Indian Railways STATION CODE for a given station?
A. The user can find the station codes by using the Station Code Finders provided on “Plan My Travel”, “Fare Enquiry”, “Trains From/To”, and “Get Availability” pages. The user can enter the first three letters of the station name and click search to get the list of matching stations and the station codes.

Q 4. How can I use the Indian Railways internet reservation facility to plan my journey?
A. Get yourself registered online by submitting the Registration Form available in this web site with your personal details. Further details are available at the terms and conditions page on Indian Railways website.

Q 5. How much extra should I pay for my ticket?
A. IRCTC charges a service charge of Rs.80/- plus service tax per ticket in case of Second Class and Sleeper Class tickets and Rs.120/- plus service tax per ticket in case of tickets of other classes.(These charges are not per passenger) Apart from this service charge of IRCTC, transaction charges as notified will be levied by the banks for each transaction.

Q 6. Is it safe to give the credit card number at this site?
A. This is a VeriSign certified site (Click on the VeriSign logo to see the certificate). All the monetary transactions made on this site are secure. The credit card details are received on the site and transmitted to the Payment Gateways through secure SSL mode under 128-bit browser independent encryption. This site does not store or record the credit card details. All the transactions are handled directly by Payment Gateways only.

Q 7. How secure is my Indian Railways Password?
A. The Password entered by you is transmitted in one way encrypted form to our database and stored as such. The Password will not be known even to IRCTC. Thus you are solely responsible for the safe custody of your password.

Q 8. How do I check the route of a Indian Railways train?
A. You have to login and click on the Time Table link from the navigation menu on the left. The page asks for Train No. (Use the “Train Finder” for help, entering the first three letters of the train name) and the service Day of the train. After submission, the page displays the route of the train with the arrival and departure timings at all the stations and the distance of each station from the originating station.

Q 9. How can I check the Fare for my journey on Indian Railways?
A. You have to login and click on the “Fares” link on the navigation menu. The page asks for the Train No. (Use “Train Finder” for assistance entering the first three letters of the train name), Origin & Destination Stations (Use “Station Finder” for assistance entering the first three letters of the station name), Date of Journey, the date being any service day of the train, Class (Select form the dropdown list box), Age and Concession desired to get the Fare for a single passenger.

Q 10. What are the different types of concessions available for Indian Railways passengers?
A. At present this site offers Concession tickets only to Senior Citizens. This concession is also offered only on specific request made by the User by clicking the relevant button on the online reservation form. Other concession tickets can be availed at the PRS counters at any Railway Reservation Office.(Children below 12 years need pay only 50% fare, as for normal tickets)
[“source -financialexpress”]