Written by: Avishek Singh
Booking railway tickets through IRCTC- Tips and Terms to learn
There are millions in India who travel everyday through the cheapest means of transport, ‘Indian Railways’. With so much of demand, availability is bound to be short. You may have experienced that when you logged in to book a ticket, none of the trains have any available seats at the first place. Or if you are lucky and find out an available seat, by the time you fill the details, the seats get taken away.
Through this article Business Connect aims at answering some frequently asked question and present you some useful tips to get your tickets confirmed:
Situation 1:
I need to travel from Dhanbad to New Delhi but there are no tickets available in any of the trains. What should I do?
Answer: In lot of trains, you will find that tickets are available from the source station to the last station. If you are willing to play and little extra you may get the confirmed ticket. In this case, if you can’t find tickets from Dhanbad to New-Delhi, try searching from the source station i.e from the station where the train begins , say Howrah to New-Delhi rather than from Dhanbad to New- Delhi .
Situation 2:
If I book my ticket from Howrah and board from Dhanbad, in this duration if the TTE offers my seat to someone else thinking that I missed my train, what should I do?
Answer: To overcome this problem, while booking the ticket through IRCTC, you have an option of selecting the boarding station. In this case, you can keep the boarding station as Dhanbad.
Situation 3:
I need to attend a wedding in Varanasi. I live in Mumbai. However all three trains from Mumbai to Varanasi are completely full. What should I do?
Answer: You should try looking for a nearest big junction to Varanasi. In this case it’s Deen Dayal Upadhyay. All of sudden your options for the number of available trains increases.
Situation 4
I need to book a Tatkal ticket online. There are multiple trains available. Which one to choose?
Answer: Of course you need to look at the arrival and departure time. Assuming that all arrival and departure time suits you, you must see the number of Tatkal tickets offered by the train. You can see this by logging into your IRCTC, choosing Tatkal ticket option and see the number of Tatkal tickets offered by the train.
Situation 5
Should I have my own IRCTC account?
Answer: You can use any IRCTC account. However, while booking a Tatkal ticket, you must know beforehand the email id and the phone number of the owner of an IRCTC account. These are security questions which you need to fill. You can not proceed, unless you fill out a security question asked while booking. Thus it is recommended to create your own arctic account.
Situation 6
What are some other tips to consider while booking during Tatkal?
Answer: Use UPI/BHIM payment method to pay as it is faster. Paying though debit/credit card is time consuming. Ensure that your internet speed is reliable. AC Tatkal starts at 10AM and for sleeper the Tatkal bookings begin at 11.00AM. Ensure to login few minutes before these timings.
Situation 7:
I booked my ticket, but it shows TQWL 25. What’s this?
Answer: TQWL is Tatkal waiting list. Tatkal is just a small portion of seats offered from a large number of seats. If you have TQWL 25 and someone else has GLWL 25, that person will be preferred over you. GNWL is general waiting list. PQWL i.e pooled quota waiting list has even lesser chances of confirmation.
Situation 8:
Can I travel with waiting list Tatkal ticket?
Answer: You can not travel with the waiting list Tatkal ticket. Tatkal tickets also does not have RAC.
Situation 9:
What is RAC and can I travel with my RAC tickets?
Answer: Yes, you can travel with your RAC tickets. GNWL can get converted into RAC. In RAC a berth is split into 2 seats for two RAC holders.
Situation 10:
My Tatkal ticket didn’t get confirmed, how can I cancel it?
Answer: All un-confirmed Tatkal tickets automatically gets cancelled if you have booked through IRCTC. If you have booked through the counter, you need to go to the counter and get that done.
Situation 11:
I want to cancel my Tatkal ticket. Can I cancel it?
Answer: No refund will be granted to the cancellation of confirmed Tatkal ticket. If you want to cancel the waitlisted ticket, partial charges will be deducted as per the railway rules.
Situation 12:
What are the cancellation charges?
Answer: That depends on when you are cancelling it. There are different changes when you cancel before 48 hours of the departure.
Now that you are more aware of IRCTC booking terms and tips, you may offer out to help a needy friend or a colleague or a member from a family. Be rest assured that they will remember your act of kindness in days to come.
