IRCTC Tatkal Rail Ticket: Tips to get a confirmed tatkal ticket

New Delhi: Many times, people urgently need to plan a journey and book a train ticket. However, a confirmed ticket depends on the availability of seats in the train and here’s where the tatkal facility comes into play. Indian Railways initiated the tatkal system keeping in mind people who need to travel suddenly.

Before booking a tatkal train ticket , people must know that these can be booked only a day before the journey. Booking for 3AC and above class starts at 10 am and Sleeper tatkal ticket booking starts at 11 am. Apart from over the counter, Tatkal tickets can also be booked online.

Here are a few tips on how to book tatkal ticket faster:

First, make an IRCTC account, which can be done by visiting https://www.irctc.co.in website.

Create master list

After you have setup your IRCTC account, create a master list. It is actually a list of passengers that you can pre-store in your profile.

In the My Profile section, you will see the master list in the drop down. Click on it. On this page you will have to fill in details like Name, Age, Gender, Birth Preference, Food Preference, Senior Citizen, ID Card Type and ID Card Number of the Passenger.

After saving these details, click on Add Passenger. A person can save up to 20 passengers in the master list.

Make a travel list

After master list, create a travel list. This will also be found in the drop down of My Profile. Users must note that this list can only be made after making a master list.

Go to the Travel List page. Here the name and details of the list will be asked. After this, there will be an option to select the name of the passenger from the master list. Select the names of the passengers you want to add to that list.

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Tatkal ticket booking

To book a tatkal ticket for class 3AC or above, the person must log in by 9.57 am. On the other hand, tatkal ticket booking for sleeper class starts at 11 am and the traveller must login to the portal by 10.57 hrs.

Next, enter the names of the stations according to your journey in the box of Plan My Journey. Select the date and finally click on submit.

After submitting the travel information, you will reach the train suggestions page. Here will be a list of all the trains that will run on your route as of next day. Above the train list, you will see radio buttons for General, Premium Tatkal, Ladies and Tatkal.

Now click on Instant. After this, choose one of the coaches of the train in which you wish to travel.

When the time of tatkal booking starts, book your seat.

How to use master list and travel list

The lists come in handy as they save time. Suppose you have to travel with five people. If you enter details like name, age, gender, berth preference of each passenger, the ticket available in tatkal quota will get fill.

So, its better to use the master list, which have the details of travellers pre-saved. Using the list, you can select the names of the passengers for whom the ticket is to be booked and save a lot of time. It may be noted that while selecting the name of the passengers from the master list will prove to be effective for 1 or 2 passengers, it would be better to use travel list for more passengers.