[sreedotk]

Quick add to the above site- To check for Ticket availability i found the rail ticket option on Rediff to be much quicker and friendlier. The dialog box gives you drop down on stations and unlike IRCTC you dont have to know the station code. For booking though nothing beats IRCTC.

I am sure with time the site will improve.

rediff train ticket site -http://indian-railways.rediff.com/index.php

[BaCkSeAtDrIVeR]

@bblost, right now, irctc is running on Microsoft. See netcraft.

[balechaparka]

I also face this communication problems ,but when we have error in booking tickets, the returns are prompt.Still i feel the service is good

here is the mail send last week regarding refund from irctc

Dear Customer,

The refund of Rs. 693.00 for the transaction tried by you under reference no.0035065647 which has failed and later found that the payment has been debited to your card account has been credited to your card account at 01/03/2008 09:15:04 PM.
We suggest you to please retry the transaction, if not booked already. The booked tickets history can be checked to view the list of all tickets booked by you.
Warm regards,
care@irctc

[Mayavi]

Originally Posted by vnabhi

Same is the case with online passport applications. When I asked for a date for renewing my family's passports, I got 3 different dates, and the earliest date was 20 days away.

But when I paid Rs 60 per head at the Passport office for online registration, I got all three on one date, that too only 3 days away.

Not related to why IRCTC is down most of the time but, this is how reservation systems of any kind work world wide. The other day I tried to schedule an appointment for cable installation online the earliest date I got was one week away. I called the customer service and I got an appointment for next day. The reason for is that the customer has fewer options online compared to what is available to the company employee.

Btw, I know a person who worked on computerization of railway ticketing system (not online reservations) and I was amazed that they could even get something like that to work. The reservation system works on first come first serve basis and holds cannot be placed. There are 100's of reservations centers in the country in addition to the online bookings. You will not have the same options available online as that are available at a physical location.

[appuchan]

Originally Posted by F50

Did you select the lower berth option? And did you click on Senior Citizen option?
I guess if you select senior citizen option it automatically gives you lower berth. Not sure though.

This doesn't seem to be the case. I used to book for my mother and never got a lower berth in spite of enough vacancies. One thing that worked for me is to ask for upper berth! Two times, it allotted me a lower/side lower berth in such cases! Maybe its becoming more "sarkari"

[appuchan]

Originally Posted by sreedotk

Quick add to the above site- To check for Ticket availability i found the rail ticket option on Rediff to be much quicker and friendlier. The dialog box gives you drop down on stations and unlike IRCTC you dont have to know the station code. For booking though nothing beats IRCTC.

I am sure with time the site will improve.

rediff train ticket site -http://indian-railways.rediff.com/index.php

I don't think any third party sites will be very useful for checking ticket availability/train status as they may not have a real-time connection to the irctc database. It may be useful for things like checking schedules etc which don't change frequently.

Train running information - TrainEnquiry.com gives real-time details about train arrivals in various stations. Can be used reliably for checking the status of most trains.

[appuchan]

Originally Posted by BaCkSeAtDrIVeR

@bblost, right now, irctc is running on Microsoft. See netcraft.

He may be talking about the back-end systems and not necessarily the web servers which could be Microsoft IIS. Oracle e-business suite is mostly ERP/CRM/Portal related stuff.

[hellstar]

I have been a regular user of IRCTC and i am really amazed at thie efficieny of the site , and once in a while i am willing to live with " communication failures" provided i dont loose money on that account. the main advantage of being able to use IRCTC is that of escaping from the long qs at the railways reservation counter .

During my initial days at Chennai , i remember having woken up at 0300 Hrs to stand in the Queue in front of the Besant nagar , Railway reservation counter to get the ticket for hoing home for chirtsmas leave. The worst part was the queue started from the gate and it rained cats and dogs at around 0500 Hrs . When the gate opened at 0730 Hrs in the morning the entire queue re aligned itself , worked out fine for me , but there were ladies and senior citizens who was waiting in the rain all drenced from 0500 Hrs being pushed too far behind for them to get reservations. Survival of the fittest !

[amohit]

Originally Posted by appuchan

This doesn't seem to be the case. I used to book for my mother and never got a lower berth in spite of enough vacancies. One thing that worked for me is to ask for upper berth! Two times, it allotted me a lower/side lower berth in such cases! Maybe its becoming more "sarkari"

I have most of the time got the seats of my choice.
Just do some maths, of the total 72 berths(in AC3, there are only 18 lower berths + 9 side lower berths), and whenever anyone does a booking first thing they ask for is lower berth, so unless you are among the first few ones to book, you wont get it. I mostly opt for side lower and side upper berths and if I am booking quite some time in advance I always get these seats.....you do get a little less leg room..but the you also get a lot more head room

Regards,

[lambuhere1]

Originally Posted by amohit

I have most of the time got the seats of my choice.
Just do some maths, of the total 72 berths(in AC3, there are only 18 lower berths + 9 side lower berths), and whenever anyone does a booking first thing they ask for is lower berth, so unless you are among the first few ones to book, you wont get it. I mostly opt for side lower and side upper berths and if I am booking quite some time in advance I always get these seats.....you do get a little less leg room..but the you also get a lot more head room

Regards,

I believe with the introduction of 3 side berths in trains, we may have to rework our luck to get the side seats of our choice. I wonder if its already implemented in trains. Does anyone have any idea ?

[menonrajesh]

Originally Posted by lambuhere1

I believe with the introduction of 3 side berths in trains, we may have to rework our luck to get the side seats of our choice. I wonder if its already implemented in trains. Does anyone have any idea ?

I heard that 3 side berths are introduced in 'Garib Raths', not sure though since I am yet to travel in one.

[csentil]

Try booking early mornings or late night.. around 9.30 to 10 pm. It works way faster then. Reason being the counters work only from 8 am to 8 pm. So the locking mechanisms and other associated problems are less. irctc is excellent. It can still improve. (yup, I'm going through my appraisals.. )

[bblost]

Mods: Can the title be replaced with something that is not so hopeless

The majority of posts seem quite contrary to what the title means.

[Jaggu]

have been using it regularly, and works fine <touch wood>

[mtnrajdeep]

Originally Posted by ntomer

Ofcourse they get 2 round-trip tickets free in a year but that's it.

\N

Its more like about 5 roundtrips a year for all officers and above!!