How to book tatkal ticket in irctc
Tatkal ticket booking through Indian railway online site www.irctc.co.in is confusing for first time user. Here I am explaining the booking process fully and about the additional charges in booking tatkal and how to reduce such charges.
Indian Railway is providing tatkal booking option for travelers who wants to travel within one day. Tatkal booking will be starting one day before the day of travel of the train. Booking will be opening from morning 8.00am. You can book tatkal ticket from ticket counters in railway stations or IRCTC site. As it is more convenient a large number of users will be trying to book tatkal ticket through the site. So there will be heavy traffic in the site at everyday morning 8.00am and the site will be slow at the time.
If you are booking ticket in a route where lot of users are traveling, many users will be trying to book tatkal ticket in the morning itself. So the seat available when you start booking process may become waiting list when you finish booking procedure. There are some tricks to get tatkal ticket easily, refer below
Tips to get tatkal ticket from railway site IRCTC
New tips to get confirmed tatkal ticket from IRCTC
What do I need to book tatkal ticket from IRCTC?
Surely you will need an account in IRCTC site www.irctc.co.in. If you do not have one, it is easy only to create one, just go the site and click on the sign up option below login. For creating an account in IRCTC you should have a mobile number and a valid email address. Tickets will be send to your email address and PNR number and other details of the ticket will be send to your mobile also. You can use the SMS that you receive in your mobile to travel. It is equivalent to hard copy of the ticket provided you have an identity card with you.
Once you have an account in IRCTC site, you will need an internet connection to book the ticket (if it is fast, it will be easy to get ticket). Also to get confirmed ticket login at the starting of the booking process itself, ie 8.00am.
Tatkal ticket booking process
Step 1. Find your train and availability of seat
Once you have logged in to the site you will be provided with a screen as shown below
In the page that you first log in, you can see the option to plan your travel. In the left top, you can enter your travel From location(source), To location(destination), date of travel, Ticket type etc.
In the from and to locations you have to enter a code corresponding to each station. It will be a 3 letter or 4 letter code. You can find it by searching in Google. If you are booking tatkal ticket you have to select tatkal from the Quota dropdown. After selecting all options, if you press 'Find trains' it will give a list of trains matching your conditions. See an example for the list of trains
Along with the list of trains, you can see different classes of travel available in the train also like sleeper, second AC, first AC etc. You have to select the class and train you want. Once you have selected it, the top of the page will reload and show the availability of seats corresponding to the train and class. If seats are available or in RAC or in waiting list up to 300, booking is allowed. After waiting list 300, booking is available. Once you have selected the book option, you will be asked to enter the traveler details as shown below
In the page to enter details, train and class of travel details will be pre - populated. You have to enter traveler details. It includes, name age, gender, birth preference, an Identity card type and identity card number. The phone number you entered while creating account in IRCTC will be populated below (remember PNR number of ticket will be send to your mobile number, which can be used as ticket without taking any printout.). After entering traveler details, you have to enter alphanumeric characters in an image at the bottom of the page. It is to verify that ticket booking is done by a human only.
After entering traveler details, if you press GO, you will be asked to confirm train and traveler details before proceeding to payment, The confirmation page will be like shown below
After confirming details, you have to press make payment button to proceed to payment options
For making payments IRCTC has provided all popular ways of payment. It includes, Credit card payments, Net baking payments, Debit card payments, Cash cards and even EMI options.
But while selecting the payment method, if you are careful you can reduce the transaction charges different banks deducting. For example if you are using, net banking Punjab national bank, federal bank or bank of baroda, transaction charge is zero. For other banks it is Rs.10 or higher. Similarly for other payments methods also there are some banks which does not reduce transaction charge. For knowing details about booking charges refer
Select the payment method that you like and proceed to payment, it will redirect you to payment banking site.
From payment banking gateway, after making the payment you will be directed back to the IRCTC site itself. Your booking status will be shown then only.
Also if you want to know the chances of getting your tatkal ticket confirmed refer
IRCTC waiting lists and chances of ticket confirmation
