Indian Railway Online Booking

Indian Railway is becoming technologically advanced and the fact that people can book their tickets online confirms the statement. The people who know how to access internet on computers, can easily get reservation done on the internet itself. Indian Railway Online Booking has certainly changed the system of reservation in India. The best thing about this service is that one can get reservation done, sitting at home before the computer.

One can book his/ her tickets at IRCTC's online reservation site (www.irctc.co.in). Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is a subsidiary or the marketing division of Indian Railways. IRCTC handles the programme of online ticket booking. On 3rd August 2002, the system of online reservation was launched in collaboration with the Centre for Railway Information Systems. Earlier, people used to stand in long queues before the counters at the reservation centers, but online ticket booking has made things easier to a great extent.

Though the queues at reservation counters are still lengthy, yet they are in a better condition than before. Those people, who don't have internet connection at home, can go to cyber cafes for the booking. In case the user has a bank account in the banks listed on the page, then just by debiting the bank account for the amount, one can also make the payment for the ticket. Not only this, Indian railway online ticket reservation can also be made by using credit cards.

State Bank of India (SBI) makes a railway card, which is useful in online booking of tickets. In the vein of SBI, Federal Bank has also joined IRCTC to facilitate customers in online reservation by means of Fed Net principle. One can make reservations online by simply debiting the Federal Bank account from anywhere in India or abroad. Another advantage for customers of Federal Bank is their tickets are delivered without any charge.

Indian Railways Online Ticket Booking is also of immense help to the people who don't have much time. At the time of online reservation, one can see two types of tickets namely I-tickets and E-tickets that are offered. E-tickets are the electronic tickets offered by the Indian Railway. Once a confirmed ticket appears on the screen, one can take a printout of the ticket. For heading towards journey, one is required to take the e-ticket along with an appropriate identity card.

I-tickets are actually Indian railway tickets that are required to be booked some days prior to the actual date of journey. These tickets can be availed after filling in the required data. I-tickets are sent to the address provided in the form. To avail this service, one has to pay a small fee including the courier charges. This service has made the system easier and people can get tickets at their doorsteps without any hassles.