No Manual Booking of Full Passenger Coaches, Book Only Through Indian Railways Website irctc.co.in

Spreading the digital wave, the Railway Board has decided that there will be "no manual" booking of full trains and coaches. The Board has decided that private booking of entire passenger rakes and coaches can now only be made through the IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) website. These bulk bookings are generally done for college tours, marriage parties, corporate meetings, etc. It is not sure from when the plan will be implemented.

With that, we hope there is less crowding outside Railway reservation counters even before it opens in the morning. Hindu Business Line quoted a source as saying, "There will be no manual booking of full tariff rate (FTR) trains."

Earlier this year, IRCTC had stated that a five percent of total fare will be charged as facilitation charge for booking of these special trains, coaches, saloons on Full Tariff Rates (FTR). Today, almost 70 percent of train reserved passenger bookings are done online. And over 80 percent of cargo bookings are done online. Earlier this month, the IRCTC launched the IRCTC Rail Connect App through which passengers can book tatkal tickets.

Payment can be made through IRCTC e-wallet at the time of booking tickets. The railway's ticket booking app also has IRCTC Food on Track App using which passengers can order food during the train journey. IRCTC also offers cancellation of e-tickets online till chart preparation of the train. To cancel a ticket, the user can log on to irctc.co.in and go to 'Booked Tickets' section. Cancellation can be initiated by selecting the passengers to be cancelled.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 20, 2018 05:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).