IRCTC for foreigners: register and book an Indian train ticket, step by step

What you're up against

IRCTC is the official ticketing platform for Indian Railways. It works — millions of seats are booked through it every day — but it was designed for Indian residents with an Indian phone number, an Indian bank card, and an Aadhaar number. None of which a visitor typically has. The good news: there is a documented path through it for foreign tourists. The bad news: nobody walks you through that path on the IRCTC homepage. This post is that walkthrough.

The three booking routes for non-Indians

1. IRCTC International account — the official online route. Worth the setup pain for any trip longer than a week.
2. Foreign Tourist Quota (FTQ) at an International Tourist Bureau — a counter at a big-city station that books foreigners onto trains that look full online. Slow, but the highest hit rate for popular routes.
3. A third-party reseller like 12Go, Cleartrip, or a hotel desk — easiest for one-off bookings; you pay a markup of roughly ₹200–₹500 per ticket. Worth it if you're only doing one journey.

The rest of this guide focuses on route 1 (IRCTC International) and route 2 (FTQ), because those are the ones you actually need to understand. Route 3 is self-explanatory once you reach the provider's site.

Route 1 — Register an IRCTC International account

Go to irctc.co.in and click Register in the top-right. Look for the radio button labelled "Register for International User" — this is the form you want, not the standard Indian-resident one.

What to fill in

• Username — 3 to 35 characters. IRCTC will keep telling you a username is taken; eventually one sticks.
• Password — 8–15 characters with a mix of upper, lower, digit and symbol. You will need to change this on first login anyway; don't agonise over it.
• Security question and answer — pick something you can remember in three months. You will need it.
• Nationality — your actual passport nationality, not where you live.
• Passport number, issue date, expiry date — exactly as printed in the document. The country-of-issue dropdown must match.
• Email — must be reachable. The activation link goes here.
• Mobile number with country code (ISD) — your home country number is fine. The ISD code dropdown must match the number.

Verify your email and phone

After submission, IRCTC sends an email with an activation link and (sometimes) an SMS with a one-time code. Click the link, enter the code, and you're technically registered.

But there's a catch. An International account starts in a partly-activated state. To actually book a ticket, you have to send a manual passport verification.

The passport-email step (the one nobody mentions)

From the same email address you registered with, send a message to care@irctc.co.in. Subject: International user verification. In the body, include:

• Your IRCTC username
• Your full name as on the passport
• Your registered email and phone number
• An attached scan or clear photo of your passport bio page (the one with your photo and details)

IRCTC's tourist desk replies in 24–72 hours. Sometimes they send a new password by email — if so, that is the one to use, not the one you chose during registration. Log in with that, change it immediately to something you'll remember.

Searching for a train

Once logged in, the booking flow is the same as for Indian users. From the homepage Plan my Journey box, enter:

• From and To — type the station name; pick from the dropdown. Use the major junction (for example New Delhi NDLS, not a smaller suburban station with the same city name).
• Date — Indian Railways opens reservations 120 days in advance for most trains. For Foreign Tourist Quota specifically you can book up to 365 days ahead at a counter (more on this below).
• Class — leave on All Classes first to see what runs at all. Once you spot the train you want, change the filter.

Tap Search. You'll get a list of trains. For each one, the available classes appear as small tiles — AVAILABLE-NN, RAC-NN, WL-NN, or REGRET — colour-coded by likelihood of confirmation. A green AVAILABLE with a low number is what you want.

If everything is waitlisted, see the section on Foreign Tourist Quota lower down.

Filling in passenger details

Tap the class tile to start the booking. You'll be prompted for one passenger row per traveller:

• Name — exactly as on your passport. Initials are allowed if your ticket-name doesn't fit.
• Age — your age on the journey date.
• Gender — Male / Female / Transgender.
• Nationality — pre-filled but double check.
• Berth preference — Lower, Middle, Upper, Side Lower, Side Upper. The system tries but doesn't guarantee. (For what these mean, read the ticket-decoder post.)
• ID proof — pick Passport from the dropdown and enter the number. You must carry the same passport when travelling.

Tick Consider for Auto Upgradation if you're happy to be moved to a higher class at no extra cost when seats free up. There is no downside.

Paying with a foreign card

This is the second part of the process that catches travellers off guard. IRCTC accepts a few international payment options, but they are buried under a long list of Indian-only wallets and UPI apps.

• International cards (Visa, Mastercard, Amex from outside India) — look for an option labelled "International Cards", "Pay with Foreign Card", or simply "Other Payment Options". A surcharge of about 1.8% applies.
• PayPal — sometimes appears, sometimes doesn't, depending on payment partner. If you see it, it works.
• Indian net banking / UPI / wallets — ignore unless you have an Indian account.

After payment, the page redirects back to IRCTC. Wait — do not close the tab — until you see either a Booking Confirmed screen with a PNR, or a clear failure message. If you close it mid- transaction and the money has left your card, the refund is automatic but slow (5–10 working days).

Route 2 — Foreign Tourist Quota (FTQ)

A small block of seats on most popular trains is held back for foreign tourists and NRIs. The quota exists because tourists often plan trips at short notice and can't compete with locals who booked 90 days ahead. If a train shows WL or REGRET for everyone else, FTQ might still have space.

How to book FTQ

• Online (the easy way) — through your IRCTC International account. After picking the train, look for a "Foreign Tourist Quota" option in the quota dropdown. If it appears with seats, book exactly as for a normal ticket. A small extra fee (around ₹200 + tax) applies per ticket. Booking window: up to 365 days in advance.
• In person at an International Tourist Bureau — counters at major stations such as New Delhi (NDLS), Mumbai CST (CSMT), Chennai Central (MAS), Kolkata (HWH / KOAA), Bengaluru (SBC), Jaipur (JP), Varanasi (BSB) and a few others. Bring your passport and original visa. Photocopies are not accepted. If booking for a companion, bring their passport too.

Getting your ticket

After successful payment, IRCTC creates an e-ticket and emails it as a PDF. It also appears in your account under My Account → Booked Ticket History. You do not need to print it; the PDF on your phone is accepted on the train.

You will get an SMS too, with a short version of the booking. This is enough on its own for boarding — your name, age, train number, PNR, coach and berth all fit in one SMS.

The PDF has every code you need: train number, coach (for example S5 or A1), berth (for example 32 UB), boarding station, and a QR code for ticket checking. We have a whole post on how to read this: Decoding your Indian train ticket.

What to do if something looks wrong

• Money taken but no ticket — wait 30 minutes, check My Transactions. Failed bookings auto-refund in 5–10 working days. Don't double-book in panic.
• Booking confirmed but name is misspelled — you cannot edit a confirmed ticket. Up to 24 hours before departure you can cancel and rebook; later, you forfeit the cancellation fee. Minor spelling errors are usually waved through by the TTE (ticket checker) if the passport matches the broad shape of the name.
• Train is shown as cancelled by the railway — full refund is automatic; you don't need to file anything. See the refunds & complaints post for the cases where it's not automatic.
• Your ticket is on the Waitlist as departure approaches — for online bookings, if a WL ticket doesn't clear by chart preparation (about 4 hours before departure on the origin), it's automatically cancelled and refunded. You will not be allowed to board.

A realistic first-time game plan

1. Register the IRCTC account at least three weeks before your trip — long enough for the passport-email step and a test booking.
2. Pick your big inter-city journeys and book them in AC classes (1A, 2A, 3A) 60–120 days ahead. These confirm quickly.
3. For famous tourist routes (Delhi–Agra, Delhi–Varanasi, Mumbai– Goa) check Foreign Tourist Quota availability if the general quota is full.
4. If a train you wanted is unavailable, try an alternative train on the same route rather than a different date — Indian Railways usually has multiple options between major city pairs.
5. Save your account login somewhere offline. IRCTC sometimes locks you out for inactivity and re-verification takes time you won't have at the station.