IRCTC continues to improve its customer experience !


We all know : to take a train in India is such a pain. But since shortly IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) keeps improving its service to make life easy for travellers. And our duty is to present them to you as they should be.

  1. Fog : public ennemy No 1 of travellers. The 3 winter months are the least convenient for the Indian Railway system due to the fog. Trains could be delayed for several hours. But now you can check if your train is affected or not by fog on erail.in .guesthouse
  2. SMS Services
    1. Status: Just send an SMS to 54959 or 139 with the text “PNR **********” where ********** is your PNR number (if your PNR is 2845303274, your text would be: PNR 2845303274)
    2. Places available: Send AVNRT (eg: AVNRT 12902 ADI 0504 BCT SL) to 54959 to see if there are still some seats available for your trip.
    3. Location of your train: Send TRNBT to 54959 to know the exact location of your train. Extremely useful if your train is late … or if you are late 🙂
    4. Meal delivered. You can now order and get your meal delivered while you’re on train. Simply send an SMS with the text “Meal ” to 139. You will be contacted by a person working for IRCTC which will offer you a menu. You will pay once meal is delivered.
  3. Meals served in train. IRCTC launched the Book-a-Meal online service for two express lines : Karnataka Express and Goa Express. Many New Delhi’s food stores are offering now this kind of service: Janta Meals, Jan Ahaars, Food Plazas, Dial-a-Meal. Travelers can order breakfast, lunch or dinner while booking their train tickets.
  4. Alarm service. You have a terrible desire to sleep, but think you are going to miss your stop? No issue! Now IRCTC is calling to wake you up half an hour before your scheduled arrival. Just dial 139 and say “Destination Alert”. Then compose your PNR number and receive a call later!
  5. Luxury executive lounge. Now in New Delhi Railway Station you can find a brand new relaxation area! This first room (115 people capacity!), reserved for executives, is very clean, comfortable, equipped with Wi-Fi, a buffet, TV sets, a train display. You can also find newspapers and magazines, and a work area with a desk and all necessary equipment to scan, print or photocopy. Moreover all that is for reasonable price! Rs 350 for 3 hours! And if you want to stay longer (and we understand you 😉 ), Rs 150 will be charged per additional hour. And this is not over yet: now you can also book online your lounge as you do with train tickets on www.railtourismindia.com, www.irctc.co.in, www.irctc.com. For further information, follow this link!guesthouse