Seat Availability | Image Resource : wheretofun.com
The Indian Railways handle a phenomenal load of passenger influx throughout the year and therefore, seat availability is always scarce. It is therefore essential for prospective passengers to book tickets well in advance in order to avoid inconvenience. The reservation process for a given journey date becomes open 60 days prior to that date. Such a time window has been provided by the Indian Railways in order to avoid last minute rushes.
Enquiry through SMS and Phone Call
The all India helpline number of the railways is 139. All information regarding availability of seats can be easily accessed through this enquiry number. There are two ways of making an enquiry either by making a call on the number 139 or by sending a SMS to the same number. the user needs to just SMS the word RAIL to 139 and a menu is sent to him/her in reply where from one can select the availability enquiry option.
Enquiry through Internet
Enquiry regarding train seats availability can be made through the IRCTC website. The user just needs to login to his account and then enter then plan a travel by entering the desired source and destination stations along with the date of journey. A list of trains appears in front of him. Once he/she chooses a train the current availability status is also shown over the book now link.
The official Indian railways website can also be used to check the availability of seats for a given train and given date of journey by selecting ‘get availability’ link which appears below the list of trains when one plans his/her travel through the website.
The Indian Railways handle a phenomenal load of passenger influx throughout the year and therefore, seat availability is always scarce. It is therefore essential for prospective passengers to book tickets well in advance in order to avoid inconvenience. The reservation process for a given journey date becomes open 60 days prior to that date. Such a time window has been provided by the Indian Railways in order to avoid last minute rushes.
Enquiry through SMS and Phone Call
The all India helpline number of the railways is 139. All information regarding availability of seats can be easily accessed through this enquiry number. There are two ways of making an enquiry either by making a call on the number 139 or by sending a SMS to the same number. the user needs to just SMS the word RAIL to 139 and a menu is sent to him/her in reply where from one can select the availability enquiry option.
Enquiry through Internet
Enquiry regarding train seats availability can be made through the IRCTC website. The user just needs to login to his account and then enter then plan a travel by entering the desired source and destination stations along with the date of journey. A list of trains appears in front of him. Once he/she chooses a train the current availability status is also shown over the book now link.
The official Indian railways website can also be used to check the availability of seats for a given train and given date of journey by selecting ‘get availability’ link which appears below the list of trains when one plans his/her travel through the website.