Now, get rail tickets at ‘last’ minute
NEW DELHI: Now you can check availability of berths and seats and book them even after the reservation chart is prepared. The railways launched the new feature on the IRCTC website on Wednesday. In future, travellers can book tickets after the second reservation chart is out just 30 minutes before the departure of trains.
Launching the new feature, railway minister Piyush Goyal said this has been done to bring greater transparency for passengers. He said this would end the hassle of passengers searching for a ticket collector. “The ability of people to market favour will end,” the minister said hinting at alleged malpractices in allotment of berths on trains.
IRCTC officials said the new web-based interface available on desktop and cellphone will give graphical representation of the coaches and berth-wise reservation status. It will be similar to that of airlines.
There will be different colours to show the seats that are booked, vacant and partially booked. It displays the coach layout of nine classes used in the reserved trains and more than 120 different coach layouts have been incorporated. Railways prepare first chart four hours before the scheduled journey and the second chart is prepared after that. “Both the charts will get updated for every charting location,” said a rail official.
Goyal also announced that IRCTC will soon add 30 base kitchens which will be equipped with cameras for public viewing. Biodegradable packing of food prepared in these kitchens is also being planned so the quality of food is not lost during transit
