Www.irctc.co.in – A Complete Solution For All Your Travel Needs

By Author: Forum Fernandis
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IRCTC is a subsidiary of Indian Railways, and stands for Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation. It is a Public Sector Enterprise under the Ministry of Railways, which was launched on the 27th of September 1999 to help the customers in booking and reservation, and also to offer them lots of other additional services. Within a few years, this venture has turned out to be a major success among the people of India as well as abroad. Its corporate portal, www.irctc.co.in, is today the largest e-commerce website in the whole of Asia, visited by millions of people.

IRCTC deals with catering, online booking and tourism. The online booking of railway tickets is the most attractive feature of the website. Here you can check various details like train number, schedule, names of source and destination stations, ticket fares, and many more. When you enter your preferred day of travel and starting and destination stations, a list of trains matching your needs will be displayed. All you need to do is to check the seat availability and make your reservation by paying through your credit or debit cards. Once the payment is ...
... made, an e-ticket is generated, which you need to carry as a proof of reservation while you travel. There is also the option of getting a ticket by post, called i-ticket. You will get i-ticket within a few days.

During the peak times all the tickets are sold as soon as the booking counters open. Under such circumstances you will not get a reserved ticket. Instead, you will get tickets either under RAC or Waiting List. If it is in RAC, you will get a seat to travel, but no berth. If enough cancellations take place, you may get a berth as well. So it is important that you check the PNR status of your ticket to make sure whether you get a confirmed ticket or not. The PNR enquiry is possible on the website of IRCTC. All you need is to provide the 10-digit PNR number on the space provided and you will get all details on trains, including the PNR status of the ticket.

Tatkal booking is also possible on the website. The Tatkal facility is quite helpful in case of emergencies. Here reservation can be made 24 hours in advance by paying an extra charge. You can book tickets in Tatkal from 10 am on the previous day of travel till the final charts are prepared. A maximum of 4 persons can be booked in one PNR when you book tickets under this system.

Besides trains, www.irctc.co.in also allows flight reservation, hotel and cab booking, loyalty programs, season tickets and many more facilities. Several tour packages are also offered to promote tourism.

If you have any train route enquiry, then you can contact to IRCTC helpline number during official timing. Nowadays knowing train route is just another piece of cake for anyone by using IRCTC website.