IRCTC
IRCTC is the abbreviated form of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation. It is a subsidiary of the Indian Railways that manages the online ticketing operations, catering and tourism of the Indian railways. This website has become hugely popular and widely used across the country.
Online ticketing facility offered by IRCTC has change the scenario of railway ticketing and brought about path breaking revolution in booking tickets. It pioneered online Railway Ticket Reservation not only through its website but also from mobile phones via GPRS or SMS. Apart from booking the tickets online one can also perform ticket cancellations or modifications as per one requirement over the internet. Besides E-tickets, IRCTC also extend the facility of I-tickets which are similar to regular tickets but does not require one to visit the computerized reservation counter as these tickets are booked online and delivered at home by post.
IRCTC provides the facility of booking the season tickets online for the convenience of commuters using the Mumbai’s suburban railway. Additionally, IRCTC has also launched a loyalty program popularized as “Shubh Yatra” meant for frequent travellers. This program allows the passengers to avail of discounts on all tickets reserved throughout the year by making payment of upfront annual fee.
IRCTC is responsible for managing the catering services on trains as well as railway stations across India. Indian Railways equips their trains with their pantry car or it arranges for meals on railways stations enroute. It basically depends on the average passenger load factor and distance covered by the train.
IRCTC is also actively engaged in providing tourism facilities for the tourists. It organizes budget and deluxe package tours for foreign as well as domestic tourists. One of the widely popular tourism packages designed for budget tourists that cover important tourist destination throughout the country is Bharat Darshan. Apart from that there are various luxury tourism packages available, that involve special luxury trains such as Palace on Wheels, Royal Orient Express, etc.