We often travel by train because they are a convenient and comfortable way of transport for lots of people. But do you know anything more about the Indian Railways except that people can book tickets to travel from one place to another?
The RailMitra app enables passengers to know the status of a live train, Order Food In Train, check Indian Railways schedule, Train Time Table, and others. There is no denying that online apps like RailMitra can now offer more features and information than expected. But more than anything else, one must first be aware of the important Indian Railways rules.
An individual can only book up to six tickets on one requisition form, given that all passengers have booked tickets for the same destination and the same train, as per the Indian Railways rules indicated on indianrail.gov.in. To book more than six tickets, you have to contact the railway officials.
The sleeping hour rules specified by Indian railways for the passengers are from 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Passengers who have been allotted middle berth seats cannot keep their beds up beyond the sleeping hours. When the sleeping hours are over, the middle bed will be lowered so that the co-passengers can sit comfortably.
Also, side-upper-berth passengers cannot claim a side-down berth during the sleeping hours.
If passengers miss their train at their boarding station due to an unmatched Train Time Table, they still have a chance to get a reserved seat. As per the rules, a TTE is not permitted to allocate a passenger seat to anyone for at least one hour of the schedule or until the next two stops have passed. Once the train crosses the second station, the TTE is free to assign seats to any RAC/WL passengers.
Many passengers are compelled to book tickets to a station before their original destination due to the unavailability of tickets in a peak season. However, Indian Railway rules do have a provision to extend your journeys beyond the Indian railway schedule of your boarding train.
You can do this by approaching a TTE before arriving at the destination. The TTE collects additional fees and issues a ticket for the forward journey but maybe with a different berth or seat.
The train travel route can be short-terminated due to natural calamities or technical issues. In such cases, if the railway does not have a backup arrangement, you will be refunded the full fare paid for the booked journey.
However, if you are not willing to take the alternate train route, the fare for the traveled route will be reduced and the remaining amount will be refunded after the transfer of the ticket to the stationmaster.
Under the Railways Act of 1989, food vendors authorized by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) cannot sell packaged food items, beverages, or bottles of water above the MRP. This is an offense. If you find someone doing so, immediately register a complaint with the railway toll-free number 139 or 1800111321. The vendor would be charged a heavy penalty and his license may be canceled.
If you find that somehow you've lost or misplaced the ticket, there's still a way to go on the journey.
- Contact the Chief Reservation Supervisor at the boarding station and submit a request for a duplicate ticket to be issued.
- Submit a Xerox copy of the ID card.
- This request would only be received 24 hours before the departure time.
- After inspection, a duplicate ticket would be provided for payment of a nominal processing fee.
If you find the original ticket, you can claim a refund on the processing fee for the duplicate ticket.
When a duplicate ticket is issued, your initial ticket will be blocked.
Under section 141, if any person pulls the chain apart from these reasons, they can be imprisoned:
- When any passenger needs medical help such as immediate treatment, medicines, or hospitalization The passengers can pull chains from their coach in case there is a fire on the train.
- Boarding with an elderly or disabled person, as elders and disabled persons, take time to board trains.
- Safety emergencies like robbery, dacoits in Naxalite areas, etc.
Passengers with confirmed tickets get their seat number at the time of reservation except in the case of first-class ACC and first-class coaches of trains. The information about the train compartment/cabins/seat number of first-class and first ACC are allotted only at the time of chart preparation.
Refund if AC is not working in the trainIf the AC coach's air conditioning system stops working during the train travel, then the difference in fare between the AC and the non-AC travel class for the portion traveled without AC will be refunded across the counter in these situations. The refund must, however, be made based on a certificate issued by the train guard/TTE.
Indian railway rules for passengers are much more beyond this. Rules for waiting list tickets, Rules for RAC, rules for Tatkal tickets, and more information can be found on the internet. Among all the rules, these 10 most important rules of Indian railways might help you in planning your next journey.
