Trains make one of the significant mediums of transportation in India. On average, the Indian railway network transports about 20 million passengers (about the population of New York) every day. Well, that is quite a number to consider. Now when there is such a huge crowd to tackle, it is not easy to get your train ticket every single time you plan to travel. There are chances you may not get train tickets at all because the demand is too high, and the seats are limited.
In such a case, you can go with the Tatkal railway ticket booking scheme. But what is tatkal booking? Well, it is a quota introduced by the government of India for those who have immediate travel plans and those who didn’t get the seats with the general quota. With the help of the Tatkal system, you can book your train ticket on most of the trains (superfast and express trains) in advance and enjoy your journey.
But the case here is a little twisted. It is because due to high population and extreme demand, even the seats on the Tatkal quota get filled within a few minutes and you are again left without any train ticket. That’s certainly a sad situation to deal with. However, here we are with a few steps one must consider before railway ticket booking to get a confirmed Tatkal train ticket. It will help you book your ticket faster and increase of chance of getting a confirmed ticket.
Register on the IRCTC Website
To book with IRCTC, you must have an account with them. This will help you book your tickets easily, keep a tab on train booking details and have a hassle-free experience. Visit the official website of IRCTC to create a new account. You would be required to provide your email ID and personal phone number to register on the website. Once your account is ready, you are okay to book your train ticket anytime. If you already have one, then you are good to follow the next step.
Create a Master List
A master list in IRCTC is a list of passengers that can be saved in advance in your account for future bookings. It facilitates the booking experience by making Tatkal booking faster. You can access it through a drop-down in the “My Profile” section of your IRCTC account. You will be required to fill in all the major details of passengers including Name, Age, Gender, Birth Preference, ID card number and type, Gender, and food preferences.
Once you have completed the details, you can add the passenger to the list. As per the current rule, you can save up to 20 passengers in the master list. It will help you save a lot of time as you will not have to enter the passenger details again and again.
Make a Travel List
Like the master list, the travel list can also be accessed through a drop-down in the “My Profile” section of your IRCTC account. You can add passengers for the forthcoming journey to the travel list. It is going to save a huge amount of time on train booking as for the booking you will only have to select the passengers and click on confirm. It will definitely increase your chance of getting a confirmed Tatkal ticket.
Keep a Tab on Time
If you are going to book your train ticket with the Tatkal quota, you must be well-prepared in advance as the window for this train booking starts at 10 am for AC tatkal tickets and 11 am for sleeper tickets 24 hours (or a day) prior to the train departure. It is just a game of time and hence, you are required to keep a tab on time and be prepared with all the details even before the window opens (usually 5 minutes earlier) for railway ticket booking.
Steps to Follow for Tatkal Railway Ticket Booking
- Log into the IRCTC account by 9:57 for AC tickets and by 10:57 for sleeper tickets.
- Go to the “Plan My Journey” tab, select the train station, and fill in the travel date.
- Now select the train from the given list you wish to travel with according to your convenience.
- Choose the Tatkal quota.
- Select the coach type and then use the travel list or master list to select the passengers.
- Select the payment option and make payment.
- Once the payment is done, your tickets are ready.
Important Tip
Make sure your internet is fast and your browser is updated.
To book your confirmed Tatkal train ticket, you can use railway ticket booking apps like the MakeMyTrip travel app. It will help you save a lot of time and ease your train ticket booking.