Advance Reservation Period (ARP) has been increased from 60 Days to 120 days advance railway reservation, from 1st April, 2015. The Ministry of Railways has increased the booking period for train tickets from 60 days to 120 days advance railway reservation. Now IRCTC advance reservation period is four months excluding the day of journey. With effect from 1st April, 2015 4 months advance railway booking in trains from train originating stations can be done.
Earlier the IRCTC advance reservation period and time for all classes and all trains was 60 days in advance exclusive of the day of departure of the train. Indian Railways has issued a Circular for New ARP of 120 days advance railway reservation.
Earlier the IRCTC advance reservation period and time for all classes and all trains was 60 days in advance exclusive of the day of departure of the train. Indian Railways has issued a Circular for New ARP of 120 days advance railway reservation.
Online Advance Rail Reservation through www.irctc.co.in
The process of booking an E-Ticket is easy and convenient. Registration on the website is free. For any assistance/ query about e-tickets, please send an e- mail to care@irctc.co.in or talk to the customer care executive at helpline number 011-39340000.Procedure of online IRCTC advance reservation
- You should register in the www.irctc.co.in website to book tickets. Registration is free.
- Before registration, customer should go through the “Terms and Conditions” which are available in the website.
- You are allowed to register only one user ID with correct details of e-mail, mobile no., etc.
- Full fare tickets including Tatkal, Child tickets and tickets for senior citizens at concessional rate can be booked through the website. E-tickets can be booked for journey between any two stations on the route of the train including originating station and destination.
- When ticket is successfully booked an SMS will be sent to the customer detailing the PNR, ticket status, fare charged etc.
During the journey even if one passenger booked on an e-ticket presents any of the ten Identity Cards mentioned below in original, the same is accepted as proof of identity (For Tatkal ticket same Identity
card is to be presented during journey which was mentioned at the time of booking of tickets):
- Voter Identity Card issued by Election Commission of India,
- Passport,
- PAN Card, issued by Income Tax Department of India,
- Driving License issued by RTO,
- Photo Identity Card issued by Central/State Governments,
- Student Identity Card with photograph issued by recognized school/college for their students,
- Nationalized Bank passbook with photograph,
- Credit Card issued by Bank with laminated photograph as a proof of identity and
- Unique Identification Card ‘Aadhar’ issued by Govt. of India
- Photo identity cards having serial number issued by Public Sector Undertakings of State/Central Government, District Administrations, Municipal bodies and Panchayat Administrations.
It will be the responsibility of the passenger carrying any one proof of identifications mentioned above that the other passengers booked on the e-tickets are bonafide passengers and are not travelling on someone else’s name. If none of the passengers is carrying any proof of Identity as mentioned above, all the passengers will be treated as travelling without ticket and shall be charged accordingly. If the passengers fail to carry the Electronic Reservation Slip (ERS)/SMS sent by IRCTC containing journey details, a penalty of Rs.50/- will be imposed by the Ticket Checking Staff.
IRCTC Advance Reservation Time
Tickets on Internet can be booked from 00:30 hrs to 23:30 hrs on all days.
Payment for booking E-tickets:
- Payment can be made by using all Master/Visa /Amex cards.
- Account holders of major banks viz. State Bank of India, PNB, Indian Bank, ICICI, HDFC, etc. can also use Net Banking/ Debit Cards facility for making payments for tickets booked through internet.
- Customers can also use various Cash Cards for making payments.
- Payment can also be made through IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) provided by National Payments Corporation of India.
In E-ticketing scheme, passengers get their reservation booked through internet while sitting at home and occupy their reserved seat on the basis of Electronic Reservation slip (ERS) taken out from their own computer or SMS sent by IRCTC/Railways along with the original Identity Card. E-Tickets can now be booked using mobile phone also through IRCTC mobile website www.irctc.co.in/mobile.
By increasing the ARP from 60 days to 120 days IRCTC will get more profits every year because money from reservations from two more months will be added to IRCTC wallet. Same way cancellation of reserved tickets will also increase which would be additional income for the Indian Railways.