Taking Dogs in train......

I was not been into my blog for a while .But today i felt its high time for me to share information that i experienced in taking My little Substitute in train.

I hope people love dogs as much as i do. People who love their pet cant really abandon them when they have to shift their places. They generally struggle a lot to carry their pet and some makes up their mind finally to abandon their dogs either in Dog shelters or on streets.I faced this situation when i have to take my pet with me from my Home town to Chennai using the busiest Southern Railway.

I would like to share this information hoping that some one at some point may need these instructions and information when they were planning for a shift thinking whether to take their dog or not.
                                                                                                                                                  

Things u need to do before planning for a pet transport in train.

1. Complete health check up: Dogs generally seems to be healthier , but they do have some physical weakness like itching , rashes etc... So please make sure that u cure all those problems before planning for your travel.
2. Vaccination: I know not all people in India are educated with the vaccination procedure for dogs.Even i didn't give proper vaccination for my dog before planning for a pet transport through train. Problem comes here, when u want to take your dog in train it should be vaccinated and a medical certificate need to be issues by a veterinary doctor.

                                                                                                                                                                   

Problems i faced !!!!

The reason i end up in taking my dog by train is expense.  I Spent around 10K for a 643 km ride in cab from my home town to Chennai. I know people out there may also feel this to be expensive for a pet to be a main traveller. Good if u own a car :-)

When I found that Indian Railway Luggage Rule ensures me that i can take my dog by train , I was so happy that my expense will be down and comfort for my little substitute will be more.

So I started collecting information about this for past 4 months from the day I took her from my home town so that I can plan for a safe return trip.

Available Options:

• Brake Van
• First Class or First Class AC.

Procedure for taking Dogs in Brake Van:

If u are planning to take your dog in brake van make sure your dog is brave , can spend the entire journey without you in a closed cage.I am writing here the stages i went through in taking a Dog from Egmore station - Chennai to my home town.

• If u have scheduled your pet travel on a date make sure that you go to the station one day before late in the evening or early in the morning of the day of travel.
• Once u reach, go to luggage section(just in the left cut next to enquiry room of egmore station).
• Show your dogs vaccination card and tell them that u need a brake van along with train number and name.
• They will make a note in a paper so that no more brake van reservations are made for that day.
• They will ask you to come one hour before your departure time to weigh your dog(generally upto 30 kg is allowed without any additional charge)
• The next day when u reach there they will ask you to pay 200 rupees for brake van and they will give u a bill confirming your booking.
• Brake van is generally the boghie where guard sits , if u say that u want to take your pet dog in that , they will carry an additional dog carrier in that.
• Make sure that your dog will fit in that carrier as i faced a problem in this.Last minute they will give u a small carrier where your dog cant even sleep irrespective of their size.
• Once these are done , your dog is ready to travel in a train.
• You can book brake van for the same train u have planned your trip
• For taking Dogs in brake van, u need not book First class or AC tickets, a sleeper class for you is also fine.

Procedure for taking Dogs in First Class or First Class AC:

I had a problem in taking my Dog in brake van , as my mom (her mom first !!!)  don't want her  little princess(my little substitute) to be in a brake van and even i knew that she cant go alone without my mom. 

So as per railway guidelines, i booked for a First Class ticket for two ( for my mom and my brother). You have to book these tickets at station where u can specify that u need a 2 coupe[ Shared only by 2 person] . If 4 of your family members are travelling then u can book a 4 coupe. Don't forget to book in even numbers since u cant carry your pet when u are going to share your coupe with other fellow passengers.

                                                                                                                                                                

Risk Factor

Risk is there that when u book a 2 coupe it is upto the railway authority (Assistant commercial Manager - ACM) to allocates coupe and first preference goes to VIP's .

Here comes my tragedy !!!! I booked for a 2 coupe and i am not sure whether i will get it. so egmore station master told me to meet and give a letter to ACM in egmore station who is on the first floor[To reach this floor we have to go  through the stair case near tourist information counter].

But the fact is they said me there is no such person in egmore and they asked me to go to central ( 10 floor building near Moore market ).People within a department doesn't know who is where... I was surprised!!!!

Then I went to central , ACM will be in the 2nd floor (till 04th April 2013 - not sure about his place after that , anything can happen in Indian Railways). When i checked with him he said he cant do anything on this .....Still he is in-charge in coupe allocation. He asked me to go to Southern Railway building[ Next to central station , opposite to General Hospital] and meet the Emergency Quota officer for coupe allocation and only then he can assure that. when I went there by 5.30 pm room was locked(Very punctual).

                                                                                                                                                  

The easy step here for coupe special request is to directly give a written letter to Emergency quota officer mentioning your PNR number , train name , number , travel date etc.. or u can simply leave it for your luck.

First Class tickets generally be in CNF(confirmed) state or WL(Wait-list) . It will not tell your which coupe you are been allotted till chart preparation. So u have to keep your finger crossed till chart has been prepared and published.

Once chart was prepared , they will mention the Berth location ranging from A to I. There is no clue to tell that A is for 4 coupe and B for 2 coupe. No railway authorities in Enquiry knows about this and they asked me to check when train comes. I got the ticket as F1,G where G is for 4 coupe(my sad day).

So to avoid risk either book 4 coupe or book brake van ahead even u planned for First class travel. 

Besides getting a 4 coupe, chart still shows that only two seats where reserved for that coupe and two upper berths were left free and was removed from that coupe. So I took my pet in that 4 coupe. 

Saddest Part.......Ends in happiness.

The most saddest part is , just to make sure that we follow everything according to railway rules , we showed our face back to luggage office telling that we dont want brake van as we got a coupe these railway officers took advantage of our urgency and told that we cant carry her in First class since it is 4 coupe and asked us to get down with the dog to brake van in final minutes of train departure time. They got my tickets and they didnt return it back , filled a brake van ticket for 200 rupees and later for a train which supposed to start by 8.50 they let us only by 8.45.

But since it is last minute , I didn't take her out of my coupe and the journey starts for my dog with mom and my brother in First class.Thanks for a kind hearted TTR who once saw all the required formalities done properly asked my mom not to worry as there wont be any other FC reservations.

Rules are not just been broken as such , it is done only when people try to stuff more things which is not required at that instance.

Finally my sweet little heart reached home safely the next day ... Her FC journey ends after many ups and downs which is never known for her......It is really good to be a lovable dog sometimes as some one is there to take care of u always!!!!!

I ll try to collect info about pet travel in flight and post in my next blog so that it will be helpful for u in future...