Railway Enquiry - Making Our Lives Easier

By Author: Forum Fernandis
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Indian Railways is one of the largest rail networks in the world carrying as many as 30 million passengers daily. Traveling by a train is the cheapest means of transport when long-distance routes are considered. There are several accommodation classes starting from sleeper class to air conditioned class and chair car in trains. The fares for all classes are different depending upon the distance and type of trains; the unreserved seating class has the cheapest fare. Long-distance trains that include pantry cars have food served within the train. For luxury trains, there are separate dining cars and the cost is much higher than other general trains. The railway provides information on trains and tickets through many ways. A railway enquiry helps one to get all information with regard to train timings, PNR status and availability of seats quite easily.

Indian Railways covers a wide area. Almost the entire country is closely connected by the railway network. It serves every major populated region in the country. It is not only within India, Indian Railways has spread its network even to the neighbouring countries like Pakistan, ...
... Bangladesh and Nepal. Some other routes are also being extended to connect countries like Thailand, Bhutan, Vietnam and Myanmar.

The railway has developed Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation, abbreviated as IRCTC, which is the face of modern era ticket booking. It is the subsidiary of Indian Railways and handles tourism, catering and online ticketing operations of the railway. After the booking of a ticket, a Passenger Name Record (PNR) status is provided to the traveler by using which one can know the status of a seat in a train. In order to make the online ticket booking more convenient, IRCTC has launched a scheme called Rolling Deposit Scheme, abbreviated as RDS, which allows the passengers to reserve seats against advance money kept with the railway.

The various other facilities that are provided by the IRCTC comprises of enquiries related to arrival and departure of trains and the PNR condition of berths and fare enquiry. Once the ticket is booked, the status can be in Waiting List or RAC. Such status is updated from time to time when other booked seats are cancelled. Therefore, one needs to keep checking the web portal regularly in order to know the PNR status.

Being controlled by the Ministry of Railways, there is a Railway Budget presented every year, wherein changes are made in the railway by cancelling existing train routes, adding new routes, or extending some old routes. Even the fares for some routes and certain trains are increased. It is not virtually possible to keep tabs on all such changes that are being brought upon. So a railway enquiry through internet facilitates the travelers to keep a check on all such changes.

Indian Railways train enquiry can be done anytime between official working hours of Railway department.You can use railway enquiry helpdesk when you use train for your next journey if in case you have any confusion or query.