What is an Online Train Booking Reservation or e-Ticket?

 

E-ticket or Electronic tickets are the train tickets which are booked online through IRCTC website and are equivalent to paper tickets.

 

IRCTC online ticket booking also facilitates you to cancel your e-Tickets easily, change the boarding point, transfer the ticket to a family member, change passenger name and avail several other e-Ticket booking services.

 

How Can I Book IRCTC e-Tickets?

 

IRCTC, an official website of Indian Railways, assists passengers to book e-Tickets easily with a user-friendly interface. IRCTC is a subsidiary of Indian Railways that manages online ticket booking services through two platforms:

 

1.    Official website, IRCTC Next Generation e-Ticketing System

2.    An official mobile app, IRCTC Rail Connect

 

These two are the only Indian Railways official platforms for IRCTC online train booking. However, many third-party train booking apps and websites allow you to book train e-Tickets online. These apps and sites also book tickets through IRCTC.

 

Related: Check IRCTC PNR Status

 

What Details Does an IRCTC e-Ticket Contain?

 

The IRCTC e-Ticket is a complete detail of your journey and personal information. The information shown in IRCTC e-ticket are:

 

1.    PNR number

2.    Train name/number

3.    Source station

4.    Destination station

5.    Boarding station

6.    Booking transaction ID

7.    Ticket booking date

8.    Date of journey

9.    Train travel class

10. Travel quota

11. Concession, if any

12. Name, age, and gender of passenger/s

13. Booking status

14. Scheduled departure time

15. Ticket fare

16. Seat/berth number

17. Coach number

18. Food preference (for Rajdhani, Shatabdi, etc.)

19. Travel policy details, etc.

 

Given below is an image of an IRCTC e-Ticket


How to Book e-Tickets through the IRCTC Website?

 

To book IRCTC e-Tickets, you must have a registered ID of an IRCTC account. Only a registered user can make railway ticket booking online. Do the following for online train booking reservation through IRCTC:

 

1.    Login to IRCTC using your credentials (Registered ID and password).

2.    Search for your trains by entering your origin and destination stations in the “From-To” option and select the desired date of your journey.

3.    Check the train seat availability and click on the “Book now” button to book tickets on a train by selecting your travel class, and quota.

4.    Fill your details carefully by providing the passenger’s name, age, gender, berth preference and food preference. Then click on ‘Continue Booking’ at the end of the page.

5.    Proceed with online payment for IRCTC ticket booking online using different modes such as debit cards, credit cards, net banking, digital wallets, etc.

6.    After the successful payment, your ticket will be booked.

7.    The IRCTC online booking ticket confirmation page will be displayed.

 

Also Read: How to get Confirm Train Tickets after Chart Preparation

 

How Do I Get an E-ticket?

 

You get the IRCTC e-ticket by:

 

1.    Virtual reservation message (VRM) that is, SMS is sent on your registered mobile number.

2.    A booking confirmation mail is sent on your registered email ID.

3.    The ERS can be viewed under ‘Booking History’ on the IRCTC website.

 

You can download the E-ticket from your mail or follow point 3.

 

For IRCTC train ticket printing, use the “Print Ticket” option on the Electronic Reservation Slip (ERS).

 

How to Carry e-Tickets While Travelling?

 

After the completion of the reservation, you will get the e-Ticket for your journey in different forms. These include:

 

  • ERS: you can access through Electronic Reservation Slip (ERS).

Steps: IRCTC> My Account> My Transactions > Booked Ticket History. You can take an IRCTC ticket print out and carry it as proof of booking.

  • VRM: You will also receive the confirmation mail to your registered mail ID with the reservation details. The screenshot of this reservation mail or a screenshot of the e-Ticket displayed by mobile, laptops etc. are called Virtual Reservation Message or VRM. It is accepted as proof of booking by Indian Railways.
  • SMS: Railways also accepts the reservation SMS as proof of booking received from IRCTC in your registered mobile number.

 

You must have a valid photo identity proof while carrying your E-ticket through ERS, VRM or SMS.

 

How to Cancel Your e-Ticket bookings in IRCTC?


You can easily cancel your e-Tickets online through IRCTC. IRCTC website provides you with the option to cancel the e-ticket fully or partially. By following these easy steps, you can make online IRCTC ticket cancellation:

 

1.    Login to your IRCTC

2.    Go to ‘My Transactions’ and click on the ‘Booked Ticket History’ link on the menu bar.

3.    Click on ‘cancel ticket.’

4.    Select the particular ticket which is to be cancelled and click on the ‘cancel ticket’ option.

5.    Select the checkbox before the passenger’s name you want to cancel and click on the ‘cancel ticket’

6.    A confirmation pop up will be displayed. Click the ‘OK’ button to confirm the final cancellation of the train ticket.

7.    Your ticket will get cancelled successfully.

8.    If it is a partially cancelled ticket, then you will get a new ERS to show to the TTE during the train journey.

 

On the successful IRCTC ticket cancellation, the cancellation amount displayed on the screen will be refunded. A confirmation message for IRCTC e-ticket cancellation will be sent on the registered mobile number, and a confirmation mail will be sent on the email ID.

 

IRCTC e-ticket Cancellation Rules

Specific rules bound the cancellation of e-Tickets:

 

1.    An e-Ticket can only be cancelled online and is not allowed to be cancelled through PRS counters.

2.    Confirmed e-Tickets bookings can be cancelled up to 4 hours before the scheduled train departure.

3.    RAC and Waitlisted e-Tickets can be cancelled up to 30 minutes before the scheduled departure.

4.    After chart preparation, you can cancel your online IRCTC train booking only by filing a Ticket Deposit Receipt or TDR.

 

IRCTC Online Booking Cancellation Refund Rules

 

Before cancelling your online train booking, you must know some of IRCTC refund rules:

 

1.    After the IRCTC train booking cancellation of your e-Ticket, you will get a refund after deduction of applicable cancellation charges.

2.    For IRCTC e-Tickets booked online through IRCTC, the cancellation amount will be refunded to the account which was used to make the payment at the time of booking.

3.    Cancellation of a confirmed ticket more than 48 hrs before the scheduled departure of the train: The IRCTC ticket cancellation charges shall be deducted at Rs240 for 1 AC Class/Executive Class, Rs 200 for 2 AC Tier/First Class, Rs 180 for 3 AC Tier/AC Chair Car/AC 3 Economy, Rs120 for Sleeper Class and Rs 60 for Second Class.

4.    Cancellation of the confirmed ticket within 48 hrs and up to 12 hours before the scheduled departure of the train: The IRCTC ticket cancellation charges shall be 25% of the fare. Less than 12 hours and before 4 hours to the scheduled departure of the train up to chart preparation whichever is earlier, 50% of the fare is paid subject to the minimum IRCTC cancellation charges.

 

Also Read: Refund Rules for IRCTC Ticket Cancellation during COVID-19 Lockdown

 

How Are e-Tickets Different From i-Tickets?


Railway e-Tickets are paperless electronic tickets and i-Tickets (Internet tickets) are a version of paper tickets. This was initiated by Indian Railways for people who do not have access to ticket booking counters to book counter tickets or to print e-Tickets.

 

Passengers with access to the internet can book i-Tickets through IRCTC website, and a printout of the ticket is delivered to them through courier. However, the provision for booking i-Tickets has been discontinued by IRCTC from 2018 onwards. Currently, only e-Tickets online booking through IRCTC is allowed.