Railway reservation is required, when you need to travel by train. Indian Railways enables individuals to reserve a ticket several months in advance. Simply put, travellers can reserve their seats through advance railway reservation system, around three month before their original journey date. There are classes in railway, which are categorized differently as first AC, second AC, third AC, AC sitting, sleeper and other classes. People can book ticket according to their budget and convenience. These classes are different in terms of facilities offered.

Railway reservation to a train can be done by two different ways:

1. Indian Railway reservation at the window
2. Online Railway reservation

These reservations are further classified as:

1. Normal Online Railway reservation
2. Tatkal regular and online railway reservation

The normal online railway reservation refers to booking your ticket through the IRCTC website or some other online resource. A simple way to make your online railway reservation is to visit the IRCTC website and enter your Username and Password to get started. If you dont have a Username and Password, you will need to create your profile by clicking on Signup. This takes you to a page, where you are required to share information such as name, gender, date of birth, age, nationality, email ID, and phone number. You are also given the flexibility to choose your User ID (subject to availability) and password.

Once, you are ready with your User ID and password, you can use the IRCTC website for booking your ticket. After you enter your User ID and password, you will need to fill in details regarding your journey. Details include source station, destination station, choice of train, number of passengers, and preferred class of travel. You also need to specify your ID proof. Subject to the successful filling up of all such details and availability of trains and seats, you can go ahead and make your booking. If the booking is confirmed, you will get an SMS and email to the effect. This is how an e-ticket is booked. You can also use the IRCTC website for booking an I-Ticket. Such tickets are sent to your home. Online resources help you to check pnr status and lots of other information, besides making reservations.

Tatkal railway reservation refers to the scheme of buying tickets under the Tatkal quota. These tickets are sold from 10:00 a.m. onwards a day before the trains scheduled departure. Tatkal tickets are limited in number and are more expensive than normal tickets. Tatkal online railway reservation simply means buying Tatkal tickets over the Internet, while regular Tatkal reservations refer to buying Tatkal tickets from ticket counters.

Many other convenient railway reservation schemes are offered especially for ladies, the physically challenged, and senior citizens etc. They can apply for their quotas and get a special reservation as per rules.

With this diversity, Indian Railway reservation system serves millions of passengers. Furthermore, the introduction of online railway reservation system has brought it at par with some of the best reservation systems globally.