A current tweet from Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, revealing a traveler taking a trip in a train with her dog in the air-conditioned compartment, went viral. Initially shared by the user on Instagram, where it gathered countless views, it was later on shared on Twitter.
The minister said while retweeting a traveler’s initial tweet, stating “Indian Railways at your service 24/7”. A big part of the online discussions that followed the tweet was netizens responding with shock that dogs might take a trip by long-distance trains.
Indian Railways at your service 24×7
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) March 15, 2023
Can guests take a trip with family pets on Indian trains?
Air India and, of late, Akasa Air might enable bring dogs on domestic flights, however Indian Railways stays the indisputable leading option of animal owners to take a trip with their family pets.
Data reveal around 2,500 family pets travel by train on a monthly basis on Indian Railways.
How can family pets be handled trains?
The Railways use a range of alternatives for carriage.
Dogs can be booked in the ‘dog boxes’ with the train guard in parcel vans connected to a lot of trains, based on schedule. The schedule of such dog boxes in a train can be examined in advance from the parcel workplace of coming from station.
Alternatively, puppies and kittens which can suit an animal basket can be brought by guests in any class after payment of the normal reservation charges. The charges can be discovered on the Indian Railways website.
What are the dos and don’ts of taking a trip with family pets?
Dog/cat owners can take a trip along with their family pets in a/c First Class just however there are particular conditions.
Railway guidelines state that just when the whole four-berth cabin or a two-berth coupe (indicating a set of one lower berth and one upper berth) is booked by the pet-owning traveler on a single ticket after payment of normal reservation charges, can the pet travel inside the train.
The scheduling charges are determined by the parcel workplace based upon the weight of the animal and the range of travel. In case of waitlisted tickets, guests can ask for allocation of such a four-berth cabin or a two-berth coupe for bring family pets, to the regional divisional train supervisor’s workplace or General Manager’s workplace, in advance. The addresses are available on the website.
Since there is no alternative yet for the traveler to notify Railways while scheduling the ticket that she will be bring an animal together with her, authorities state that when they familiarize of it, they offer it due factor to consider while setting aside the berths. However, if an unique coupe or whole cabin cannot be set aside, the traveler needs to get a composed no-objection from co-passengers in the cabin in order to bring the animal.
Considering the rules included, authorities recommend guests bring family pets to reach the station a couple of hours beforehand so regarding be prepared in time for the departure.
Station authorities state that it is good to bring the recognition files of the traveler, like a copy of the Aadhaar card and the vaccination certificate of the animal.
In initially a/c or very first class, the optimum variety of dogs which can be booked with a traveler is not more than the variety of guests. In other words, one traveler can bring just one dog.
What are the charges?
The dog brought in a dog box is charged Rs 30 per kg per animal dog, and when brought in a/c very first class and First Class with a traveler it is charged Rs 60 per kg per dog.
Dogs are not enabled to be brought in AC2 tier, AIR CONDITIONER 3 tier, AIR CONDITIONER Chair Car, Sleeper Class and Second Class Compartments. Puppies/kittens which can be brought in a basket can be brought by owners in all the classes after scheduling with the parcel workplace.
The freight charges of Rs 20 per kg are charged for puppies and kittens. In a specific train, just one dog box is offered and just one dog is booked per train on first-cum-first served basis.
There is no arrangement for advance reservation of dogs. Dogs are secured the dog boxes in the existence of the owner who is accountable for feeding the dog en path.
