IRTCT – An All-In-One Enterprise
Traveling includes booking of tickets, good food and visit to important tourist places. All these aspects are combined in IRTCT, which deals with catering, online booking and tourism. Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation or IRCTC is a subsidiary of Indian Railways and its website is one of the busiest in Asia-Pacific with more than six lakhs registered users.
IRCTC used to offer catering service to majority of trains earlier, but after the new railway policy in 2010, it caters to only a few selected trains like All Duranto Express, Frakha Express, Maitree Express, Rajdhani Express, etc. Other than that some non-railway catering in many Indian ministries and institutes are also operated by it.
Recently IRCTC has starts a new venture called ‘Book a Meal’ wherein you can book meals at the time you book tickets online. You can choose from the menu provided, which consists of vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals. You can book lunch, dinner and breakfast in this way, but the payment cannot be done online. It is to be paid in cash when you get it delivered in the train. At present it is available only in Goa Express and Karnataka Express. If it becomes a success, this facility will be available in other trains too. ‘Book a Meal’ can be done only online on the website of IRCTC.
The online booking is the most innovative and popular venture of IRCTC. They are the pioneers in introducing online booking of tickets in India. Here you get all details on all the trains in Indian railways, such as train availability, train schedules, seat availability, prices of tickets and railway time table. You can book your ticket after you register yourself on the website and make payment online using your credit card or debit card. You also get the facility to cancel your tickets and get the refund credited to your account.
Other than catering service and online booking, a lot of luxury and budget tourism packages are also offered by IRCTC to promote tourism in India. Tourism is now a fast growing business and majority of the revenue of the country come from tourism. Indian Railways offers various tourism packages and you can choose the one that fits your budget. Luxury tour packages are mainly aimed at promoting foreign tourism in the country. The services provided in them are beyond comparison.
Booking of Tatkal tickets is also provided on the website of IRCTC. Tatkal bookings are possible on day prior to the departure of the train, and the counters open at 10 AM.
IRTCT now offers flight booking, hotel booking and hiring of call taxis. So it offers a variety of services to the people both inside India and also outside the country.
Planning a holiday with your family? Book train tickets online as per your itinerary at irtct. Pay online and get instant confirmation for your booking. Check seat availability on trains to your desired destinations. View fares, book your tickets and pay online. Hassle free, quick and secure online booking.
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