E Ticket is an electronic version of the conventional paper ticket and can be booked online 60 days in advance of the journey date. The passengers take a print out of the confirmed ticket and carry the same piece of paper and a photo identity proof when boarding the train. This ticket is treated as a valid authority that permits a passenger to enter the railway premises without requiring the regular railway ticket. The print out is a replacement of the ticket itself so if you forget the print out then you are charged a penalty of Rs 50.

To book an e-ticket, you need to first register yourself for free with the government website www.irctc.co.in. This website is the official site for online booking and checking the status of the running trains as well as availability of the wait listed tickets.

For registration choose a user name and password that you can remember. You need to use the same user name and password for future log in. once you log in; you’ll see a column, “plan my travel and book my ticket”. In that column insert the codes of originating station and the destination. Thereafter choose the journey date, class of accommodation and the type of ticket you want. For e-ticket select the option and click on ‘go’. A list of available trains running between the origination station and the destination city is displayed on the website. Select the train you wish to travel in and check the availability status of that particular train. Then click on ‘book ticket’. You can also choose the berth you wish to accommodate. Fill in the train number, passenger details and the type of birth you want and then click on ‘make payment’. A drop down column will appear for choosing among various means of payment. Click on any one of then and make the payment ensuring the security of your transaction. After successful transaction a confirmation message appears on the screen and then you can take the print out of the ticket. IRCTC also send a confirmation message to your mailbox.

Not only reservation even cancellation can be made online. For canceling a particular ticket you again have to visit the website and log in with your user name and password. Click on ‘booked tickets’ and select the ticket to be cancelled. After complete transaction the amount is credited back to the respective account. Make sure that you cancel the ticket before the preparation of the reservation chart.

Booking an e-ticket is very simple and the most growing mode of making railway reservation.

Online reservation is the easiest and reliable mode of booking tickets sitting at home. You just need to have access to a computer and hold a debit or a credit card. The most popular site for online booking is www.irctc.co.in. This is a very popular site among all Indians and even foreigners who book tickets online for their visit to India. This site provides all sorts of information related the train number, fares, rules, days of departure of a particular train, the route of the train as well as availability of reserved accommodation. You can even check the status of your wait-listed or RAC ticket on this website by just entering your PNR number.

To book an online ticket, just fill in the necessary data on the first page displayed on the website. Fill in the details regarding the originating station, destination, date of journey, class of accommodation and number of passenger. Once when you fill the complete details the system ask for payment. You can either use the debit card accepted by the Indian Railway website for direct transaction from your bank account or you can even use a credit card for payment.

Today many Sify Iway cyber cafes are opened in various cities to book tickets for those who don’t have a credit card or a net connection at home. These cafes book your tickets for a cash payment. IRCTC have also joined with Federal Bank enabling customers to book tickets online using Fed Net principle. The customers of this bank have the privilege of booking tickets from anywhere in India and abroad by just debiting the federal bank account. These tickets are delivered without any additional charges.

When you make an online booking there are two types of tickets that are available, E-Ticket or I-Ticket. E- Tickets are tickets that appear on the screen after reservation and you just need to take a print out of the ticket with the appropriate identity proof. The other type of ticket is I-Ticket. These tickets are booked few days prior to the date of journey and are only for people in India. Foreigners cannot book these tickets as these are sent to the Indian address mentioned in the form. A nominal courier fee is charged against the ticket.

The only drawback of online reservation is some additional charges. When you book an online ticket, in addition to the actual fare of the journey you have to pay the reservation charges, service charge and the bank transfer fee of credit card interest. The total of the additional charges comes out to be nearly about Rs 100 to Rs 150. in this fast moving world people prefer paying these additional charges and avoid the hassles of standing in long queues for hours.

Reservation can be made 60 days prior to the date of journey. People have to stand in long queues for hours for making advance booking. They have to fill in a reservation form stating the train number, class of accommodation, journey date, destination and the originating station. In a single form reservation can be applied for maximum of 6 persons provided that they all have the same destination. Allotment of the reserved ticket is done by computer as per pre defined logic. There are some authorized agents who can also issue tickets. Different agents charge different fares over the actual fare of the train ticket as their service charge. So if you want to save time you can contact any of the authorized travel agents for tickets.

The passenger trains are usually crowded so while making advance booking one may get a confirmed ticket or the ticket may be RAC (Reservation against Cancellation) or wait-listed. Confirmed reservation allows the passenger to travel by that train in the allotted seat number. With a RAC ticket a passenger can board the train and have reserved sitting accommodation. Above and all the wait-listed ticket does not permit passengers to board the reserved coaches. Reservation closes 4 hours prior to the train departure so if you want to make a booking in those 4 hours you have to contact the current reservation counter at the station.

Apart from the ordinary reservation system there is an emergency reservation scheme in some selected trains. This is called the Tatkal system as tatkal means immediate. The reservation of these tickets start 5 days before the date of the journey and the reserved accommodation is allotted on first come first basis. All these tatkal tickets come with a premium of Rs 50 to Rs 200 added to the actual fare of the journey depending on the class. For reservation of these tickets you need to produce your photo identity at the reservation counter and even inside the train to prevent bogus booking and black market sale of hot tickets. Tatkal tickets canot be cancelled or refunded.

There are different reservation rules for children and senior citizens. Children below 5 years are permitted to travel for free and children between the age group of 5-12 years are charged half the fare for the journey. Since 2001 30% deduction is given on the actual fare of the ticket to senior citizens. For handicapped people a special quota of two berths are earmarked in the sleeper class of almost all the trains. Some trains also have reserved accommodation exclusively for ladies but boys below 12 years can travel in these reserved coaches. Railways also give concession to students.

There are some rules for the refund as well. If a confirmed ticket is cancelled more than one day in advance of the scheduled departure then the cancellation charges are as follows:

Rs 50 for AC First Class/Executive Class

Rs 30 for AC 2 tier Sleeper Class/3 tier Sleeper Class/AC Chair Car

Rs 20 for Sleeper Class

Rs 10 for Second Class

Cancellation can also be done after the train departs. 50% of the actual fare of the journey is refunded on cancellation after the departure of the train. If the ticket is wait-listed then only a nominal charge of Rs 10 is deducted and rest is refunded.