Tatkal bookings’ charges increased from December 25

Tatkal bookings’ charges increased from December 25

The Railways have increased the reservation charges for Tatkal tickets. The revised rates will come into effect from December 25 onwards.

According to a press release from the Railways, The maximum reservation charges for sleeper class under the Tatkal scheme has been increased from Rs.175 to Rs.200. The minimum charges have been increased from Rs.90 to Rs.100. The maximum and minimum charges will depend on the distance to be travelled.

The maximum reservation charges for A.C. Third Class, has been increased from Rs.350 to Rs.400. The minimum charges have been increased from Rs.250 to Rs.300. For the Second Class A.C., the maximum Tatkal reservation charges have been increased to Rs.500. The minimum charges have been increased to Rs.400. There are no changes of rates for the Second Class Seating coaches.

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IRCTC - Tatkal booking likely to get easier

Tatkal booking likely to get easier – IRCTC

“Attempts are being made to simplify the extremely popular Tatkal reservation system.”

Tatkal booking is a blessing in disguise for train travelers who urgently need tickets, but the process of booking tickets on this system could be a constant source of irritation. Though plenty of reasons are attributed to it, the main grouse is the slow server connectivity and the IRCTC website’s inability to handle multiple user load.

Addressing this issue, Sandeep Dutta, the Chief Public Relation Officer of IRCTC, which is a sister concern of the Indian Railways, said, “All over the country, more than ten lakh tickets are reserved everyday, of which about 50% is booked through IRCTC.

“On the Tatkal system, between 10 AM and 12 PM, nearly 1.5 lakh tickets are booked everyday on the IRCTC website. In the beginning the website server was able to book only 7000 tickets per minute. Now, it has been raised to 14,000 e-tickets per minute.

“When users all over the country try to reserve tickets on Tatkal at the same time, the website crashes due to the overload. This has constantly been a huge challenge for IRCTC. Despite the fact that IRCTC has given a number of facilities, its reputation suffers due to this.

To tackle this problem, IRCTC decided to purchase five new world-class Singapore-based servers. These servers will be added to the main IRCTC server in another ten days. User capacity will increase from 14,000 to 24,000 per minute maximum. There will not be any website crash after that.

So, Tatkal reservation is going to become much more user-friendly.

Source: www.cgstaffnews.in

Tatkal Booking Timings Change – Online Booking Passengers Pleased

Revision of Tatkal Timings – Passengers are happy with the steps taken by the Railways?

Tatkal Booking Timings Change – Online Booking Passengers Pleased

There is now a reduction in the jamming of the IRCTC website that occurred because AC and Second Class passengers were trying, at the same time, to book tatkal tickets online. It has therefore now become easier for passengers to book second class tickets on the internet.

Nearly 15000 tickets are being booked through IRCTC website at tatkal hours. The huge traffic will be diverted into two segments such as AC and Non AC.

Timings for the Railway Tatkal ticket booking have been changed from 15th June 2015. Previously the booking under Tatkal Scheme opens at 10.00 hrs on the previous day of journey from train originating station for all classes. According to the new schedule, booking for the AC coaches will open at 10 AM and ticket bookings for the other non AC classes are open at 11 AM.

And one more important decision taken by the Railway Board is completely debarred from booking tickets during the first thirty minutes of opening of booking for all authorized IRCTC Agents.

Generally the total number of seats of a train are divided into various quotas. Such as General Quota, Tatkal Quota, Ladies Quota and Pooled Quota. These quotas will differ for different trains.

30% of the total available Berths on a train are allocated for Tatkal Quota, and 10% are set aside for sitting tickets. Approximately 2 seats will be allocated in each coach for Ladies Quota. And nearly 8% of seats reserved for Pooled Quota. In AC Coaches, 16 tickets for each 3-tier AC coach and 10 tickets of 2-tier AC coaches are also being allocated for the online tatkal booking.

Accommodation reserved not only for Ladies, also Sr. Citizen and Pregnant Women. Accommodation of six berths in sleeper class of all the trains is earmarked for exclusive use of lady passengers. In addition to this a combined quota of 2 lower berths is earmarked in sleeper class, AC 3-Tier and AC 2-Tier classes for Sr. Citizens, Female passengers 45 years of age and above traveling alone and pregnant women in all trains. Pregnant women will be required to submit a certificate of pregnancy certified by one registered Medical Practitioner at the time of booking against the quota.

So totally 40% tickets are being set aside for quota reservations. With more than 80% of the population preferring to travel in second class, it becomes a moral duty of the Government to give due importance to it.

Click to read more at cgstaffnews.in

Amendment in Tatkal Scheme – Timings for Booking Staggered for AC and non AC Classes

Amendment in Tatkal Scheme – Timings for Booking Staggered for AC and non AC Classes

At present, the booking under Tatkal scheme opens at 10.00 hrs on the previous day of journey from train originating station. It has been decided that w.e.f. 15.06.2015, timings for booking of Tatkal tickets will be staggered for AC & non-AC classes to 1000 hours onwards and 1100 hours onwards respectively. Hence, now the reservation under Tatkal scheme will open at 1000 hours on the previous day of journey from train originating station for AC classes whereas that for non-AC classes will start at 1100 hours on the previous day of journey from train originating station.

Moreover, all types of ticketing agents (YTSK, RTSAs, IRCTC agents, etc.) will now be debarred from booking tickets during the first thirty minutes of opening of booking i.e. from 0800 to 0830 hours for general bookings, and from 1000 to 1030 hours & 1100 to 1130 hours for Tatkal booking in AC & non-AC classes respectively.

Railway Board order on the amendment of Tatkal Scheme

Source: PIB News

Ministry of Railways Decide to Run Suvidha Trains – These Trains will Run at Dynamic Fare System

Railways Decide to Run Suvidha Trains – These Trains will Run at Dynamic Fare System

Ministry of Railways has decided to run Suvidha trains on the following terms & conditions.

· Tickets shall be issued only for confirmed and RAC passengers accommodation. There shall be no provision for waiting list in the train.

· The maximum Advance Reservation period will be 30 days while the minimum Advance Reservation period will be of 10 days. Zonal Railways may decide the exact ARP for each train within this limit.

· No concession shall be applicable on these trains. Full adult fare shall be changed for all passengers irrespective of their age. Also free passes/complimentary passes/warrant/concessional voucher etc. shall not be permitted in these trains.

· Apart from e-ticketing the sale of tickets shall also be allowed through PRS counters.

· Modification/duplicate ticket/cluster bookings/BPT will not be allowed.

· Only General quota bookings will be applicable.

· Upgradation option shall not be applicable in these trains.

· Passenger should produce one of the prescribed Identity Card during journey for verification purpose for both e-ticket & PRS ticket.

· On the basis of demand pattern, Suvidha train services may run during peak seasons like winter rush, summer rush, Dussehara rush, Holi rush and on other occasions as jointly decided by COMs and CCMs of the zonal Railways.

· There shall be no First AC/Fist Class/Executive class/general class/2nd sitting coach in the train composition of Suvidha Trains.

Three types of Suvidha Trains services are proposed:-

(1) Fully air-conditioned services with or without stoppages: Base Price: (Rajdhani base fare+Tatkal charges).

(2) Mixed services having no enroute commercial stoppages on mixed Duronto pattern: Base price: (Mixed Duronto base fare+ Tatkal charges).

(3) For mixed services having some stoppages enroute and running as Mail/Express: Base price: (Mail/Express base fare+Tatkal charges).

· In addition to above, if demand arises zonal Railways may also plan for fully airconditioned Shatabdi/Double decker type Suvidha Trains with fare of the respective categories of trains as per above.

· Suvidha trains will run on dynamic fare system. The Permissible booking pattern and charges thereon of Suvidha Trains will be as under:-

For both AC classes and non AC- classes:-

(*Other charges like reservation charge, catering charge, S/F, service tax, etc. will be taken in full wherever applicable)

· Vacant berths left at the time of charting will be offered for current booking counters. Tickets at current counters shall be sold at the last price sold for that class and other supplementary charges like reservation fee, superfast charges, catering charges, service tax applicable shall be levied in full.

· The information would also be displayed to the passenger during the booking in case the fare of lower class becomes higher than the higher class to exercise option to travel by the higher class.

· There shall be no downward movement in the fare.

· 50% refund of fare subject to minimum flat cancellation charge of rupees one hundred for airconditioned-II tier/first class, rupees ninety for airconditioned III-tier/3 economy/airconditioned chair car and rupees sixty for sleeper class will be granted for confirmed/RAC tickets upto 6 hours before the scheduled departure of the train. No refund of fare after that will be granted. Such refund will be granted by filing TDR in case of e-tickets and in case of PRS counter-ticket across the counter.

· The Suvidha train services shall be over and above the normal train services and special trains on Tatkal fares.

· The above guidelines will be implemented w.e.f. 01.07.2015.

More details can be seen at website of Ministry of Railway www.indianrailways.gov.in

Reservation Time Changed for Tatkal Booking – 50% Refund for Cancellation

Reservation Time Changed for Tatkal Booking – 50% Refund for Cancellation

“Changes will be brought in to the popular train ticket reservation system, which will put to shame the detractors who are insisting that it be privatized like BSNL”

It is not a simple task to travel 500 KM in just Rs.150.00! Autorickshaws charge Rs.25 per kilometer, and the fare is double during night times. The state governments can arbitrarily raise the bus fares as and when they feel. They give hundreds of reasons to justify these hikes. But, the concern they show for railway fares is surprising and baffling, to say the least.

The general public doesn’t mind paying more if they have to travel on short notice. But, these detractors feel that there has to be a guideline of sorts on how much more can be charged from them. The fact that the Centre has taken cognizance of these opinions is obvious from the reforms that are being brought to these systems.

The Tatkal Reservation facility’s timings have been changed. The decision has also been made to refund 50% of the ticket costs on cancellation.

Tatkal is a blessing for those who have to go on sudden journeys. That’s why there is a heavy demand for these tickets. Meanwhile, the Indian Railways announced that it is planning to run special Tatkal trains to ease the demand. The charges could be Rs.175 to Rs.400 more than the fares of normal trains.
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