In our previous post about IRCTC Tatkal booking tips, we gave some suggestions to maximise your chances to successfully book a ticket under tatkal quota. Here, we’ll tell you another way to get your emergency ticket.
As you know, the tatkal window opens bang on 8 am, 2 days before the departure date. What some of you may not be aware of is the fact that Internet Booking is not the only way to get your tatkal booking done. There will be tatkal counters at the railway stations which will also open at 8am. Booking through these counters will be done through the Local railway network, which is different from the normal Internet which people use to book tickets through IRCTC website. The load which IRCTC website experiences will not have an effect on this local network and hence your tatkal ticket confirmation is almost a guarantee if you can get to the counter quickly.
Unfortunately, since it’s an offline process and the queue before the counter will be huge, there will be those ‘Middle-man’ (agents) offering to assist you with the booking process, for some commission. In worst cases, these middle-men, with the help of counter operators book tickets in bulk in some pseudo name and later sell them to the needed one’s.
So, if you badly need a tatkal ticket, your best option would be to go to the counter very early and stand in the queue or if you can afford…….. you know it.
