A Complete Guide to Take a Train Trip During Festivals

India is a land of festivals. Each month is full of festivities, and these festivities provide Indians vacations which invite them to home or places famous for holidays. September, October, and November hold India’s major celebrations, including Navaratri, Dussehra, Diwali, and Chhath. At this time, all the public transport of India welcomes an adrenaline rush of travellers, whether it’s the bus, train or aeroplane. In such a situation, getting a confirmed ticket for travelling to boarding the transport mode all becomes challenging for people. The train is the most common mode of transport people usually take to travel from one place to another. 

So, here, we present to you a step-to-step guide for planning and executing a train trip in India during festivals. 

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  • Plan Your Train Trip- For planning a train trip smartly, you will need to check different information in advance, such as trains available for your nearest railway station to your destination, seat availability in different trains, train fares, types of trains etc. To get this train information conveniently, you can install a rail app and use its features to plan your train trip. During festivals, Indian Railways also run festive special trains. With the app, you can check the timetable of those trains and plan your journey.
  • Book Your Train Ticket in Advance- With hands-on information of different trains, you can visit the IRCTC e-ticketing website to book your train ticket in advance. You can apply quotas of Indian Railways while booking your train ticket if it is applicable. Besides, You can choose to book your train ticket in AC class for a comfortable journey as it has high confirmation chances. However, if you plan your train trip just a few weeks before your journey date, try to take a ticket from the counter. As with the counter waiting list ticket, you will be allowed to travel by train. 
  • Check PNR Status- After booking your train ticket, check PNR status to know whether it is confirmed, waitlisted, or RAC. Rail enquiry app AI-featured allows travellers to get an accurate prediction of PNR status based on the data of IRCTC ticket booked history. Besides, during the PNR status check, passengers can get a seat no, coach no, journey date, train name & number, and ticket booking date to stay updated about their journey details. 
  • Pre-Book Your Meal – Indian Railways handle huge crowds during the Festive season. In such cases, more people will be on the server of train food delivery apps. Network issues and technical errors can occur during booking train food on journey dates. Some e-catering apps like RailRestro allow passengers to pre-book meal on train before their travel date. Just, after your train ticket booking, with its app, you can confirm the booking of your delicious food on train. The app ensures 100% food delivery on trains, even at rushed stations. 
  • Prepare Your Journey Checklist- Now, you can look for your travel needs by getting over with travel tickets, train selection and food booking. Prepare your checklist of personal essentials like toiletries, entertainment packages, dresses you want to carry, sanitiser, body spray, personal bedsheet, outgoing essential kits, steel -a water bottle, and some packed edibles if you are not much more health-freaked. Making a checklist is important because you might forget to put needed things if you go directly for packaging. 
  • Give Special Attention to Luggage- It’s advisable to don’t pack your bag in a rush on the journey date. Do the packaging of essential things a few days before the journey date. Also, try to pack your bag lighter. So that you don’t need to search much on railway stations for coolies. It becomes difficult to get porters during festivals, especially at metro city stations. Besides, consider locking your bag properly for your stress-free travelling. 
  • Reach Station on Time to Board Your Train- If you track the live running status of your train over the last few days and even the previous year’s train status during the festive season, it will be helpful for you to know the average arrival time of the train. This information lets you easily plan your advance cab/bus booking to reach the station on time. However, you must check the live running status of the train on the journey date or before leaving your place to take the train. Train live status also informs you about the expected platform number on which train stops. 
  • Customise Your Train Seat- Since the railways has allotted you a seat for your journey. customise it according to your need, like take out your water bottles, packets of some snacks, your book, power bank, phone, sanitiser, and earbuds from the bag. Place it on your seat according to the need and accessibility. However, don’t put extra items on your seat; only keep the things you find you will frequently need on the train.
  • Enjoy Your Rail Ride- Just forget the chaos of daily life for these travel hours and enjoy yourself and the company of your travel buddies. Read books, stare outside the window for hours, watch movies or series, listen to your favourite playlist, eat your meal on time, play video games, and do whatever you love on the train. In all that, consider sleeping for a while at night. It helps you reduce your travel tiredness and make you feel fresh. Before sleeping at night, you can set the destination alert alarm of Indian Railways so that you get notified 20 minutes before you reach your destination.  
  • Deboard Your Train With Ease- Wrap your luggage at least 20 minutes before reaching the destination so that you don’t miss your things on the train. Besides, look at the seat to ensure food packets or any waste aren’t left behind. If there are any, put them in the dustbin because Swachh India is each one’s responsibility. Now, deboard your train easily when the train properly stops. Never try to escape from a train in a hurry. No matter how much rush there is. 

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Hope you find the guide helpful in planning your train journey during festivities. You can install the RailMitra- one Stop solution app to plan your festival special train trip. The app allows travellers to check PNR status, train running status, train schedule, train fare, seat availability, train live status and many more. With its app, passengers can even order food in trains and book hotels on an hourly basis.