Reconfirmation of Reservations

These apply for airlines and railway journies.


Airline Reconfirmation

• International flights have to be reconfirmed. If you fail to do so, this may result in the automatic cancellation of your booking. This is essential for any inbound journies from India and Nepal. Although airlines do not insist that you reconfirm the outbound journey to India or Nepal, we recomend that you do so by contacting the airline. Please also ensure departure times, reporting times and any special requests whilst dong so.
• Internal flight bookings must also be reconfirmed locally. For those purchasing Jet Airways tickets and Jet Airways Visit India passes please reconfirm at the airport on arrival for the next onward journey. For help with reconfirmation please also open the tickets and on the inside cover you will find a list of telephone numbers pertaining to the cities.

Railway Reconfirmation
Reconfirmation of Railway Reservations is highly recommended locally. However, unlike air reservations, the railways do not cancel bookings if you fail to reconfirm.

If the Railways do not cancel your booking if you fail to reconfirm, why should I bother with the reconfirmation process ?
The main reasons for reconfirmation are:-

• To obtain coach & seat numbers for train journies. Indian trains tend to be very long. Sometimes, the engines haul approximately 25 carriages. The length of such a train is nearly quarter of a mile. Hence, having seat No. aids the process of finding your reserved seats.
• If there are any last minute changes, local reconfirmation helps (eg: if a train time has been brought forward or any other local information).
• The whole purpose of reconfirmation is to bring any possible problem to the surface, and, rectifying it rather than being caught unaware.

How to reconfirm ? There are special addresses in the major cities such as Delhi, Mumbai (Bombay), Chennai (Madras) & Kolkatta (Calcutta). These are provided to you along with the rail passes. These offices are open during office hours (not 24 hours) from Mon - Sat.
In most cities reconfirmation is a straight forward process. The same is the case in Delhi (assuming you go to the correct place). There are a lot of touts operating in and around New Delhi railway station. Many of the travellers do get misled in Delhi. To prevent this we have tried to walk you through the process of finding the right place.

• You will be approached by many people in and around New Delhi Railway station (sometimes even dressed in railway uniform with badges. Virtually, all of them will claim that the International Tourist Bureau does not exist where you are going. It has been moved to an office outside the railway station.). The golden rule to remember is that : "Why should a railway official be interested in you ? ". If you want a railway official you have to go to them. They will not come to you. You know that something is not right. Politely, tell them to go away.
• Most travellers will enter the New Delhi railway station through the Paharganj entrance. A diagramatic drawing is shown below:-
  
  
  On entry you will find 2 staircases as shown above in the diagram (one on the right hand side and one on the left hand side). Choose either staircase. You may prefer to use the left hand side as it leads directly to the "International Tourist Bureau". Do not go into the queue, but go to the UK desk.
  A diagram of the exterior of New Delhi railway station and the main foyer is shown below when you approach through the entrance.
  
  

  Photos above are taken by John Tickner

How do I find the train and my allotted carriage and seat ?

• Each train in India has a train number and a name. This should be provided to you in an itinerary sheet along with the rail tickets. Look for the train number on a board in the station. This is usually found in the main foyer as you enter the train stations. Against, your train number a platform number is given. Head for the platform number associated with your train.
• Approx. 1 hour - 30 minutes prior to the departure time of your train reservation charts will appear at the station (like the diagram below).
  
  Photo above are taken by John Tickner
  
  Look for the your names on the charts to re-verify coach/seating provided against the class of travel that you are booking. Note: Many times your name may be spelt incorrectly. This is quite common and not an area of concern. Every reservation has the person's name in conjunction with the rail pass number. Hence, let us say your coach number A1 and seat No. is 3. You name is Mr J Smith and you rail pass number is 006102. Your reservation on the chart for coach A1 will look like:-
  
  1. Mrs A Patel 0051023
  2. Mr A Karia 51022210
  3. Mr J Smith 006102
  4.- 46. Other names in columns Other Ticket No.
  
• When the train arrives on the platform look for your carriage number. On the side of the carriage as you enter, your name again reappears (similar to the diagram below):-
  
  
  
  Photos above are taken by John Tickner