Firstpost guide to book e-ticket on Indian Railways' IRCTC website: How to login and get hassle-free train reservation online

Want to have a hassle-free, time-saving reservation on any train? Log onto IRCTC website of Indian Railways and get your e-ticket through online booking. Over the past one-and-half decade, there has been a paradigm shift in the system of booking an Indian Railways train ticket. Instead of waiting in a long queue before a reservation counter for getting a manual ticket, passengers find it far easier to make online booking of a ticket through IRCTC website. According to Indian Railways, there has been a 12 times increase in the issuance of tickets per minute in the last five years. In comparison to 2014, where 2000 e-tickets were booked per minute, it’s 24,000 e-tickets booked per minute in 2019. Indeed, a phenomenal increase, and it’s due to the ease of booking for the passengers. [caption id=“attachment_6994231” align=“alignnone” width=“809”] Growth in e-ticketing.[/caption] What do you need to book an e-ticket? 1. A computer or a laptop or a smartphone to access the IRCTC website. 2. A good internet connection. 3. Your user ID and Password to log into IRCTC website. Either you can search IRCTC on Google search engine or directly access ( www.irctc.co.in) [caption id=“attachment_6994261” align=“alignnone” width=“812”] IRCTC website screenshot 1.[/caption] Key points to remember while booking an e-ticket on IRCTC 1. You need an account on IRCTC, which is simple. Sign up on the red-coloured tab ‘LOGIN’ (refer to screenshot), giving all information correctly that is requested. 2. After signing up, you need to log in using your user ID and password. 3. Do remember that if your ID is not linked to Aadhar then you cannot book more than 6 tickets a month from your user ID. 4. If your user ID is linked with Aadhar, then you can book up to 12 tickets a month from one user ID. 5. An individual can book only two tickets from one user ID between 8 am and 10 am. 6. During Tatkal hours (that is 10 am to 11 am for non-AC classes and from 11 to 12 noon for AC classes), there are further restrictions. Between 10 am and 12 noon, individuals can book only two tickets from one user ID and one IP address during these hours. 6. If you are not in any rush, then the best time to book a ticket on IRCTC is afternoon or late evening, when the traffic is not as heavy as in the morning. [caption id=“attachment_6994301” align=“alignnone” width=“805”] IRCTC Log in screenshot.[/caption] How to book an e-ticket on IRCTC website? 1. There are two ways to access the IRCTC website. First, refer (IRCTC screenshot 1). Fill up the form on the screen — ‘From’ and ‘To’; Date of travel and Class you want to travel. Once you get through the website, you get options for trains. And once you select the train, you need to login using your user ID and password. 2. Second and the best way is to click on ‘LOGIN’ tab. (refer screenshot IRCTC 2). Fill up your user ID, Password and the ‘Captcha’ given carefully. Then click ‘SIGN IN’. 3. Once you get inside, fill in your destination, etc. and then give passenger details. Continue booking. 4. Confirm booking details. 5. Next is the payment gateway. Here you make an online payment by using your debit or credit card. 6. Once you are done, you get a message on the website of successful booking of your ticket — ‘Congratulations!’. 7. You also get details of your ticket on your registered mobile number as an SMS and on your registered email. What if you lose the SMS? Not to worry. In case you lose this SMS, you can log on to IRCTC website and resend that SMS to yourself up to five times. You can also take a print out of your ticket from the website after logging in.