Indian Railway

Indian Railway is one of the largest transport facility in India. It is the most economical as well. The railway is an Indian government enterprise and is under the purview of Ministry of Railway. The rail network all over India is governed by the ministry.

The rail network came into existence during the British Raj before independence. Since the independence the network as grown phenomenally to rank among the largest transportation system in the World. With the demands of increasing population more an more trains are operating every year.

For management purpose the Railway System in the country has been divided into various zones as follows:

Northern Railway

Central Railway

Eastern Railway

Western Railway

Southern Railway

All the management zones constitute the Indian Railway which transports industrial and consumer good and passengers all over India.

The Trains

The Great Indian Railways are meant for transportation of commercial goods and passengers from all over the country. The trains are divided into goods trains and passenger trains. The passenger trains are further divided into passenger, mail and express the latter two being fast trains halting at limited stations. The passenger trains are meant to transport local passenger with limited coverage however they can be overnight trains as well.

A third category of super luxury trains meant for tourism exists. The tourism aspect in maintained by IRCTC which also manages online rail reservations for Indian railway. The tourism rails ply between places of interests and are usually limited tourism destinations.

The toy trains are not what they are reserve to they are by all means passenger rails meant to transport passengers in hilly ares easpecially in resorts like Darjeeling Shimla and Niligirs.Local trains are those that ply from one station to another within the confines of metrao cities like New Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkutta.

The classification of train accommodation is as per the comfort level and space. The three tier sleeper coach offers berth reservation but does not have climate control. The 2 tier AC coach and first class AC coach are more spacious and luxurious with air conditioning. The third AC accommodates more travelers than 2nd AC coach or compartment.

Except the General bogey all other classes require prior reservation for seat or birth allocation. The is a prerequisite especially for long distance and overnight trains. Travelers are not allowed to alight the coach with reservation or RAC status. On train reservation for a berth can be granted to RAC ticket holders the acronym stands to Reservation Against Cancellation.

Due to heavy passenger load prior ticket booking is a must and this can be done at reservation booths at major stations. Small station have ticket counters from where one can purchase unreserved tickets or reserved tickets as per quota.

Recently Irctc website has made it possible to book tickets online. The website is fully featured to receive payment online from passengers in return fort the ticket sold. As per the reservation chart Irctc grants reserved ticket, Rac ticket or wait listed ticket. Irctc site offers I and E ticket booking facility as well and cancellation facility online.

Railway reservation or ticket booking is done through number of booking centers operated by the board. All kinds of rail ticket are available at these centers. There is also an enquiry cell present that provides information about trains and ticket availability.

The tickets can be booked online through the IRCTC website. The reservation tickets obtained online require a photo identity proof to be shown to the ticket collector during the journey. The photo identity proof can be any one recognized in India. You can us a Pan Card for this purpose or a UID Card issued under the Aadhaar Project in India. You have to produce the same photo identity that you have used for booking. This is also applicable to the Tatkal Reservations.

The reservation status can be checked by using the pnr status tool online. This is a quick and fast way to find the status of your reservation if it is not confirmed at the time of booking. The Pnr stands for passenger name record and is ten digit number.

Alternatively you can find reservation status using sms pnr status through mobile phone. This sms service is invaluable since one need not go online. Using sms service on can find pnr status from any location. The number to be dialed is 139.

The fastest trains in India have a speed limit between 110 km to 130 km. Some of the fast trains are the Rajdhani Express connecting the capital with major cities.

The Duranto Express trains are non stop and run between major cities.

Some of the Express trains are also fast but make regular stops on the way to their destinations:

Some notable examples are:

Garib Rath
Bhopal Shatabdi
Jan Shatabdi
Super Fast Trains
Yuva

The country lags much behind the super fast train operating in Europa, China and Japan.

This has been a grand initiative taken by IRCTC in India. Ultra luxury tourist trains are a major attraction among foreign tourists in India. In a luxury settings the visitors are taken around the major destinations of the country. Usually the trains operate within a state.

Some of the tourist trains are:

Deccan Odyssey

Royal Rajasthan

Palace in Wheels

Golden Chariot

Maharaja Express

There are many other rails that operate in India on package tours. These visit sightseeing and spiritual destinations and tiger reserves.