No q and lunch time breaks as you near the window. Review on Irctc

No Q & counter closed just as you reach the window.

Review : I had read a lot about online booking of railways tickets but never did try it since I did not have a CC or internet Banking. I took the trouble and managed to get on Internet banking activated and the first thing I tried was to book the ticket Good thing I read all instructions first so as to avoid any surprises.

1.Things to remember you would need a CC or an Internet banking account in order to book tickets. I use the Internet banking facility of ICICI or HDFC pay directly Banks charge Rs 10 /- and CC 1.8 % (confirm with website of IRCTC) in addition to service charges charged by IRCTC

1. Allow 2 to 3 days (depending on whr you need the tickets delivered) b4 date of travel.

3 NO cash refund for tickets booked online they will be directly credited back to your account.

4 Cancellation procedures is the same old routine of standing in the Q.

5 need to sign up with basic info log in name, your details address. CC numbers are asked only when you pay and are not stored when creating an account.

6 make sure your Internet connection is good and surfing is fast since there would be delays if traffic is high and you could encounter problems while paying or getting travel info.

1. I think tickets can be booked only during a certain period of time during the day. Now for my booking experience. I needed to go from Mumbai to Mangalore. ?Plan my Travel ? on the side helps you in selecting the trains you would need. Fill in you Origin and destination and choose your train. Fill in Passenger details and pay. Simple. Clear instructions are provided thru out the process. Then I had a problem. While paying the payment did not get processed but my account was debited for the ticket money along with the service charge of Rs 10. Frantically I tied to see what happened since the tickets had not been booked but was paid for.

I dashed of an email to the customer support and thankfully they replied back soon saying that an error would have happened and the money would be refunded along with bank charges the next day and that I would have to book again. So I booked gain and this time it went thru easily. But now I had paid for the same ticket twice. Since CS had told me to wait for the next and I waited. And next day the money was credited back.

The Tickets were delivered the next day of booking within 24 hrs. Service charge is Rs 40 for SL class seems reasonable when you see they courier it from Delhi nad is charged per icket and not per passenger ( 5 or 6 passengers per ticekt )and you do not have to stand in the queues (and the q in Mumbai are not very Pleasant). Since then I have traveled 7 times and have only booked tickets thru IRCTC for my family and me.

Must say booking tickets is not a reason for panic any more for me?. No waking up early to be first in queue, no arguing with the counter staff, no worries about the time running and counter closing for lunch as you near the window? Just sit in the comfort of your house office or cyber café and book you tickets.

Pros : Comfort

Cons: all minor ones