Group Booking on the Indian Railways
Train journeys are amazing ways to travel across a country. And for a country like India with millions of kms of tracks, it's one of the best way to discover the culture and diversity of a great country. Reserving a ticket should be very easy in any country, but there are always unsaid rules when it comes to booking more than the required quota. Ever wondered what to do when you have a whole group wanting to go by train on the Indian Railways network. Here's a little knowhow of how to do it step by step.
It's...
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not the easiest of processes, but still it's pretty straightforward and you would be spending around 2-3 hours based on how big your list is.
The very first of information you require as you think of a group booking is, how many passengers would be travelling on that very route. Indian Railways allows a maximum of 6 tickets to be sold online and at its reservation counters across the nation. If your list is more than 6 members, then you will need to head to your main or central station. For eg: If in Chennai, you will have to head to the main Central Station and there on the first floor is the bulk booking office. But before you head there, you need to bring with you all the important information along so that you don't have to waste time running around for the required documents.
Here's all the important documents you need to bring (3 copies of everything):
If your going as part of the office tour or in an educational tour (school/college) you will need to bring a request letter stating your intent of travel and how many people are travelling and when. The letter should be written to the Commercial Manager (if your total pax is above 20), or to the Chief Reservations Officer (if your total pax is less than 20). *If you are a family or a group of friends with no official purpose, this letter may not be requested. Only group from schools / colleges / offices undertaking travel are required of this letter printed on their official letterheads and signed and stamped by authorised personnel.
Next you need the list of names along with the full names of the passengers, their age and sex mentioned clearly in tabular columns. On the top of this letter, it's always better if you mention the name of the train, train number, starting and ending station codes and the departure dates.
The person who is leading the group and the one who will be travelling along with the group should use his ID card for the group booking process. You can send your representative, but it is always required that the ID should belong to someone who is also part of the said tour. You can carry a copy of a valid Indian ID card (Aadhar / Driving License / PAN card) and you should self attest this copy with your signature and your telephone number.
Finally with all the above said documents ready and 3 copies each. You can head to the main central reservations office. Check where is the bulk booking counters and head there. Once your there, find the Indian Railways reservations form. A maximum of only 6 pax can be filled in one form, so according to your list, write all the name 6 on each form, until you've covered all the names. You need to use additional forms to complete the full list. In the same form, you can fill your onward journey details. But beware, the onward journey can only be filled if the passenger list is the same for the onward journey. If you have changes in the names for the return list, you need to use a separate new form for those passengers.
Once all the forms are written and ready, head to the Chief Reservations Officer's cabin and show him all that you've got. He/She will check all the details, arrange the forms, check availabilities and stamp the attached forms. One copy will be given to you stamped and you will need to carry it on the day of the travel. Once the documents are stamped and given, the officer will guide you to the group booking counter for the reservations staff to issue the tickets and pay the fee. Once the tickets are issued, kindly check the details and the dates and make sure all the printed details are correct as per required. And you and your group are good to go.
Hints and tips:
*You must have 3 copies of the documents each.
*Only valid government issued ID cards are accepted.
*Payments by card and cash are accepted, but only limited counters accept cards.
*Name change cannot be done for group bookings. But only family/kins with same family name are allowed to switch places. For this, both individuals need to come to the reservations office with valid ID cards and get it corrected in the system. Maximum time for correction allowed is 3 hours before scheduled departure.