Indian Railways has rolled out a feature that brings some relief to pet parents. Passengers can now make online booking for their dogs and cats as companions in AC First Class, putting an end to a tedious, time-consuming process that involved standing in line at the parcel office just hours before the train’s departure.
With more than 700 bookings already processed since May this year, the convenience is being welcomed by pet-owners, who previously grappled with logistical headaches when planning long-distance trips with their furry friends.
For years, taking pets on trains meant navigating a complex procedure: after securing tickets, owners had to visit the parcel office on the day of travel, often enduring long waits to complete the required paperwork and get a physical challan. All this only if the passenger has secured a coupe or a two-berth cabin exclusively. The other option was to request co-passengers in the cabin to sign a no-objection for the pet to travel along. Or the pet-owner needed to book all four berths.
Not only is this inconvenient but also a source of stress for those who want reassurance about their pet’s travel plans well in advance. The new online system allows passengers to book pets just like they book tickets—but with one condition: only passengers assigned a private coupe in AC First Class can bring their pets along. The same is applicable for taking cats as well.
But as far as making life easier for pet parents is concerned, the railways may still have a long way to go. For the past few years, former BJP MP and minister Maneka Gandhi has been writing to the railway ministry to bring back what was called the “dog box” in the guard’s coach. It is, as the name suggests, a box attached inside guard’s coach in which dog or cat can be transported.
It is big enough to fit only one standard-sized dog at a time. They have been the standard fittings in the Integral Coach Factory (ICF)-type coaches of yore, which are being phased out. The practice continued from the British era. In the new lots of the Linke-Hofmann-Busch (LHB) coaches, these are absent.
“For some reason, this has been changed in the past two years. Now, anyone travelling with a pet, whether dog or cat, is required to book an entire coupe. In the past two yearsâ€æ we have received hundreds of desperate calls and emails from passengers,” Gandhi argued in a letter to railway minister Ashwini Vaisnaw in 2021.
Again in 2022, she wrote to the minister reiterating the demand. “You promised me you would do it. A year has passed and it has not been done and so many animals and their owners have suffered,” said the letter.
In January 2023, Gandhi again wrote: “â€æthe problem here is that for most of the Indian population, First AC coach still continues to be unaffordable. For those who can afford too, the rules implying are so convoluted that they are difficult to follow.”
The central demand is to have dog boxes in all the trains like before so that there exists an economical option for pet-owners to travel with their dog or cat. In this, the owner can travel in the same train and during longer stops can visit the guard van and feed the animal.
The problem with getting an AC First Class coupe is that in a typical train, this class has the fewest seats. And within that, in a coach there are just three coupes. Moreover, the fare of an AC First Class is equal to, if not more than, flights for the same distance. So, for a lot of people, the option might be off limits.
However, railway officials say they have been facing some issues with the dog box.
“In all AC trains, the staff were complaining that it’s difficult to travel in the coach with the dog box in it because it’s not ventilated and the stench of the dog is too much to bear,” said a senior official. They said work is on to develop a suitable design for dog boxes in such trains.
In recent years, India has seen a rise in pet ownership, especially in urban centres. According to the India International Pet Trade Fair (IIPTF), the Indian pet industry is growing annually at a rate of 13.9 per cent, with pet services emerging as an essential aspect of urban life. The Covid pandemic years also saw a surge in pet adoptions.
While air travel offers an alternative for pet transportation, it comes with limitations. Airlines, including Air India and Akasa, allow pets only in the cargo hold, a practice many pet parents find less than ideal. The cargo experience can be stressful for animals, with temperature fluctuations, loud noises and limited visibility adding to their discomfort. By contrast, the rail journey provides an option that keeps pets close to their owners in a quieter, more controlled environment.
