Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Carrying of pet dogs in trains

As per extant rules, a pet dog can be carried in dog box in Second Class Luggage and Brake Van (SLR ).  Dog is also permitted to be carried with the passenger in AC First Class and First Class Compartments only provided that the whole coupe (2 berther or 4 berther ) is booked by the passenger or the group of passengers for his/their exclusive use. Dog carried in dog box is charged at luggage rates applicable to the train at 30 kgs per pet dog.  Pet dogs can also be carried in AC first class and First Class at luggage rate for 60 kgs per dog.  Dogs are not allowed to be carried in AC2 tier, AC 3 tier, AC Chair Car, Sleeper Class and Second Class  Compartments.  The facility for booking of a dog in AC First Class and First Class and Dog Boxes provided in SLRs can be availed in all Mail/Express and in AC First Class in Rajdhani Trains.  Both First Class and AC First Class have separate cabins/coupes so that carriage of pets does not cause inconvenience to copassengers.  In Shatabadi trains, booking of dogs is not permitted as these trains do not have AC First Class and First Class compartments.  Booking of dogs in dog boxes is not permitted in Rajdhani/Shatabdi trains as they do not have dog boxes.  In other trains one dog box is provided and only one dog is booked per train on first-com-first served basis.   There is no provision of advance booking of dogs.  They are booked at the counter, one hour before departure of the train. Dogs are locked in the dog boxes in the presence of the owner who is responsible for feeding of the dog enroute.  Special Vehicle (Horse Boxes ) can also be provided in case of number of dogs being more then one and upto 36 in the case of dogs being of large size.