Travelling brings such a refreshing change from the everyday mundane and brings such big smiles on our faces. However, it breaks my heart when we have to leave my furry kid behind while we embark on a fun trip of our own. We love seeing the spark in his eyes when he experiences an amazing new surrounding, meet some new people and make some new friends of his own. We have taken Oz (our furry kid) on some really fun and long road trips to the Himalayas and Rajasthan. He has snow trekked till Chandrashila and swam happily in the lakes of Udaipur, however never experienced the chill beach life. This year we decided to give him the pleasure of swimming in the sea and play catchup with the waves hitting the shores. So we planned a trip to Goa and decided to take a train journey, mainly to avoid spending 8 days on a car trip from Delhi to Goa and back.
This was our first time travelling via Indian railways with our doggo and we had a hard time getting all relevant information to make that happen. There are youtube vlogs and blogs available with a lot of information but none of those places had all that we needed to know in a single place. And therefore, here I am writing this piece for everyone Indian parent out there who would want to take an adventurous train trip with their furry kid.
Here are the 5 steps you need to follow to take a trip with your furry kid in the Indian Railways:
1. Choose the right options while booking your train ticket
Book an AC first-class ticket and enter a preference to get a coupe or a cabin while booking. Coupe if you are 1-2 passengers and cabin if you are 3+ passengers. Make sure to book both the seats of the coupe or 4 seats of the cabin if you don’t want to take the risk of the fellow passenger(s) objecting to travelling with your pet.
2. Submit an application to get coupe/cabin allotment
Write an application to the chief reservation officer or chief ticketing officer of the station asking for a coupe/cabin allotment since you are travelling with your pet. Submit the application with him a few days before your trip date to increase your chances of getting your preferred compartment in the train. We submitted a week before. The chances are big for you to get your choice if you submit of time, the travel is not happening during a festival season or weekend.
3. Carry all the necessary documents for your pet
Get a ‘Fit to travel’ certificate from your vet and carry the vaccination records with you while travelling. Take some photocopies of the same since you can possibly be asked to submit them at the parcel office when you book your pet for the train travel.
4. Check your seat allocation on the day of travel
Check the coupe or cabin allocation status once the chart is prepared on the day of travel. There would be a high likelihood of you getting if you submitted your application in time, the train has enough coupe/cabins and there is no prior-booking by a VIP.
5. Book your pet at the parcel office
On the day of travel, reach the station a few hours earlier. You have to go to the parcel office and book your pet on the day of travel. You aren’t required to take your pet along to the parcel office but do carry the vaccination and fit to travel documents. The parcel officer charges accordingly to the weight of the pet. Get a receipt for your pet from them which would be needed by the TT. Once you have paid the charges at the parcel office, you are all set to board the train and travel with your kiddo!
Frequently asked questions
Q1. What if I couldn't manage to get a coupe or cabin to myself?
You will have to pray that the passengers travelling with you don't have concerns with your pet. It's a little unlikely for this to happen since a large majority of Indians aren't that pet friendly. The rules clearly state that if the passengers have any concerns travelling with your pet then they can raise it with the TT and you would have to either deboard or shift to another free coupe or cabin which can accommodate you with your kid. In the past, the pet was shifted to the guard van and put inside a box, but they don't have those anymore.
When we boarded our train to Goa, we saw a tough situation like this unfold and the pet parent had to shift in another cabin with a pet.
Q2. What if I couldn't reach the station on time to get my pet booked at the parcel office?
Unfortunately, the TT will charge 5 times the actually pet booking amount if you don’t have a parcel receipt for your pet. We couldn’t get this done at the New Delhi station, because we were a little late and the parcel office at the NDLS station isn't the easiest to find. We couldn't reach the parcel office on time, decided to board anyways and paid a hefty penalty.
Q3. Will my pet feel fine on a long train journey?
It's recommended to start travelling slightly shorter distances with your pet in trains so that they get used to the experience. However, we didn't actually get an opportunity to do that and straight away took Oz to Goa for a 28 hours long train ride. This obviously wasn't taken extremely well taken by Oz and he took time to get used to the rocking train and the sudden breaking. Our dog couldn't sleep properly in the first train ride and the somehow slept most of the time while returning. So the experiences both the times were very different from each other. The pee breaks can be managed by knowing the longer stops ahead of time so that you can plan to take them out accordingly. However, managing poop is definitely tricky and it's suggested to feed your pets very less during the journey so that they don't feel the pressure to go.
Q4. How to manage dog exercises during the journey?
We took Oz out of the coupe during night time when most people are inside and made him run in the corridor. You can play a game of fetch with them as well inside that lane. Oz was happily running from one end to the other.
Important map locations
1. Delhi Chief reservation officer's address
Submit an application in Delhi over here.
Full address - Office of deputy CCM, Annexe I, Baroda House, Copernicus Marg, New Delhi, Delhi - 110001
2. NDLS Parcel office, Ajmeri Gate
You can get your pet booked her if you are boarding the train from the Ajmeri gate side of the NDLS station
3. NDLS Railway Mail Service
Book your pet here if you are boarding the train from Platform #1 (Paharganj side) of the NDLS railway station.
4. Parcel office in Madgao, Goa
5. Regional traffic manager's office, Margao
Submit your application here in Margao.
Hope you find this article useful. Like and share this further if you did. And leave a comment to let me know your thoughts.