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So, my cousin got us confirmed booking from Madgaon to M'lore and we were to get into the general coaches of the same train at Dadar. But it so happened, when we reached the station there was not an inch of space left in the unreserved coach. The TTE at Dadar, suggested us to get onto the reserved coaches and we somehow managed to squeeze into them. NOT an inch of space here, too. No TTE for the entire journey and most of the crowd was unreserved passengers. I wonder what happened to the reserved passengers as no one came to claim the seats.

All in all, an eventful journey. The lesson learnt, never set foot in Mumbai, with out a return ticket. :) Especially in summers!

I am circumspect as how much they can help, as most of them use the same channels as us for booking. One never knows, need to check around how some of them travel in this section, regularly with reserved seats.

i keep travelling regularly and use up 3 irctc accounts in a month. havent failed to get a tatkal ticket in a long time but of course location and demand differs.

agents employ people to go stand in queue at the reservation counter and generally face better chance if it's a crunch situation.

but again ultimately it boils down to luck :) glad you got back :thumbs up

I am glad you made it back! Was your final destination Mangalore or Bangalore?

It only struck me yesterday that perhaps I could have tried to book your ticket, not that the results may have been any different.

This summer vacation I was planning to take my son to Bombay to show him my old haunts, but after reading your cautionary tale I will make sure that the return tickets are confirmed before I set foot in Majestic.

The destination was Mangalore.

There is heavy traffic during summers for Mumbai > Mangalore > Mumbai and also towards Kerala. This may NOT be true for Mumbai - Bangalore section. Also, for Mumbai - B'lore most of them prefer Inter-City bus travel as the duration is much less compared to Trains(which still are in stone age).

Nevertheless, does NOT hurt to book return tickets!

IRCTC website hacked, information of lakhs feared stolen

Source : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/52117348.cms

I felt the proof of the hacking of irctc website today.

Wanted to book a tatkal for a relative from Pune to Mumbai for tomorrow. Logged in from mobile from explorer (not the app).
After all selections made, noticed 17 tickets available. Clicked on book now and surprise surprise. I got the message "Only 2 tickets can be booked from one IP address. You have exhausted your limit"

Though in this instance, it was not used at an illegal/prohibited place, come to think of it, our IP's can be used anywhere now and we are always at the risk of being framed.

What did you mean by this?

I am not sure how it works. I am not tech savvy but as per my understanding if my IP was used by someone else to book tickets, the IP can now be used for anything else, no?

Is it necessary to print out a copy of the ticket and carry it with you or is having a pdf in your phone good enough for a Mumbai-Pune train journey (though Indrayani/InterCity or any other train)?

A pdf is good enough, the railways is trying to discourage the use of paper tickets.
Please do your bit and print only if its that critical.

For eTickets, all you need is a valid photo ID (Government issued) for adults and for children if they do not have any valid id, a school attested ID proof will suffice.

However, this is again based on the interpretation of the TTE. Case in point, I recently traveled from Kerala to Pune, At the first stage all i did was show them the id card and all was well, however, the second examiner insisted on the sms / soft copy of ticket as a confirmation. The only issue was that my phone was out of juice and had a tough time convincing the TTE that i'm a genuine traveler.

There was one passenger in the same train who did not have ID proof and had to pay full fare as fine.

Cheers

Just the SMS with PNR and seat details is good enough these days, in addition to a photo identification. In my house, we haven't taken any ticket printout for the last 6 months.

What about if you are stopped by ticket checkers while exiting a station - is the pdf good enough there also.

It is sufficient to have the SMS or a screenshot of the E-Ticket page or the Email from the IRCTC portal, and a valid ID card in original. PAN, Aadhar and Voter ID card can be carried in the wallet/purse/vanity bag, hence that shouldn't be too much trouble. I said original because some TTEs insist on carrying an original, and they will not be satisfied with a photocopy or an attested copy even.

The ticket checkers in platforms do not trouble people walking out with baggage, but in the only instance when I was stopped by a checker while walking with a small backpack, the SMS was sufficient to prove that I am a legitimate traveller.

I haven't travelled anywhere north of Bangalore in a train recently, but these are my experiences in Kerala and TN.

How exactly does Tatkal work on irctc.co.in? For a Monday morning, ticket - when can you try for a Tatkal ticket? Is it very difficult to get - are there any tips?

This is for my cousin who is WL/10 on Mumbai-Pune Indrayani on Monday Morning. Is there a chance that the WL will be confirmed before Monday morning.