Whenever
a passenger books a ticket through railways internet booking facility, he gets
his ticket as per his preference selected i.e. either a i-Ticket or E-Ticket.
E-Ticket
In the option of E-Ticket there is no system for handing over a physical ticket to the passenger. After booking a ticket one can take a printout of the ticket and this serves as a ticket for taking up of Journey. The mandatory condition of E-ticket is that one of the passenger’s named in the ticket must produce his photo ID Card like Voter's ID, PAN Card, Passport, Govt ID Card (if Govt Employee) etc for validation. Failure to do so is treated a journey without ticket as per Indian Railways rules.
It is not necessary that you have to take the printout
instantly as suggested by a answerer, you can take the print out any time after
booking by logging in and going to "Print Ticket" session.
I-Ticket
After booking there is no need for taking out of a print. The ticket is delivered in physical form by Railways through courier in 2 days time. Also there is no need to produce any ID card while traveling.
What is better you E-Ticket or i-Ticket, why?
a) i-ticket – It can be booked in certain number of days before date of journey (presently two days) and railways is not responsible for loss of tickets etc; so why unnecessary risk
b) i-ticket – If due to some reason the ticket is not
delivered to recipient address and returned back, in such case to trace the
ticket with railways could be a real headache.
c) i-ticket – The ticket could be cancelled at some booking counter only and thus one has to visit and stand in queue and wait; whereas in case of e-ticket again simply you can cancel in net itself.
d) i-ticket – There are certain extra charges for delivery
of ticket which is not in case of e-ticket
So, go for e-ticket ... but make sure you have at least one ID proof with you.
