Dearest Indian Railway,,
I am Regular traveller in Railway & working in Automobile R&D as Designer by profession. Being a
traveller I felt that some of the changes are much needed, which will not cost anything to Railway,
but it will be of greatest help to travellers. I have mentioned these changes as a Concern and
solutions.
Concern 1: - Train’s chart is prepared before 4 Hours of scheduled Departure of train. 4 hours is very
less time for deciding alternate travel option if ticket does not get confirmed. Many people need to
travel to Main stations from Towns & Villages earlier than 4 hours. If ticket doesn’t get confirmed
just before 4 hours, they remain in big trouble to find alternative plan.
Solution 1.1:- Chart to be prepared at least before 24 hours or before Tatkal booking starts.
Automatically no cancellations allowed after 24 hours of scheduled departure. This will help people
plan their journey comfortably in advance. Also availability between intermediate stations can be
used by needy people with current berths booking. Train occupancy can be fully utilised
Solution 1.2:- All unused quotas like HO, Duty pass, VIP, Parliament, Defence, Foreigner etc. to be
converted in to general quota before 24 hours of scheduled departure.
Solution 1.3:- Decision of extra coaches addition to be taken 24 hours earlier & not at the time of
chart preparation.
This move will definitely bring more and more people towards railway from other transport means &
improve revenue generation.
Concern 2:- Waiting list shows huge waiting till preparation of chart. Reality is many berths remain
vacant & People cannot travel despite need. This specifically happens due to Pooled Quota, which is
shared by many stations. Even if ticket is booked for two nearby station, entire route is shown as
booked in pooled quota. This vacant berth can be converted to available at the time of chart
preparation, which is too late. This is loss for Railway as well as passenger.
Solution 2.1:- Railway should be transparent in bookings made in the train. Website or kiosk at
station should show the “status of booking if chart prepared right now” based on booking. This
status can keep on changing based on cancellations & new bookings. It will give clear information of
Bookings between intermediate stations & provide confidence to passenger to book ticket. Its winwin situation for Railway as well for passengers.
Solution 2.2:- Make chart as early as possible.
Solution 2.3:- Details of chart also to be uploaded on IRCTC Website or railway website. Vacant seats
help people decide travel plan. For example after chart preparation, Pune to Ahmedabad Waiting list
is not confirmed, but From Mumbai reservation is possible. Person can plan Pune to Mumbai in
General ticket and use reservation afterwards. Current booking should also be made online
Concern 3:- There is waiting list for Tatkal as well General waiting. Urgent traveller books Tatkal as
well as General waiting ticket for getting maximum confirmation probability. Also travellers remain
confused that which waiting ticket will get confirmed?
If both get confirmed, one birth remains vacant & Traveller has to pay double charge + Tatkal
charges. Many times 100% General waiting gets confirmed at the time of preparation of chart. It’s
not justified for people who paid Tatkal charges.
Solution 3.1:- Tatkal booking should have option to mention details of general waiting PNR as well &
person need to pay only Tatkal charges, if already booked in general category. If ticket got confirmed
under General Quota, Tatkal charge to be refunded.
Solution 3.2:- Chart to be prepared before Start of Tatkal booking. No need for Tatkal waiting list as
no cancellation permitted.
Concern 4:- There is no mode of transport in railway for a person who wants to save Time as well as
Money by sacrificing their comfort. Currently Special, Suvidha, Rajdhani, Shatabdi & Duronto is not
having General compartment, 3AC Economy, 2 S and Chair car (except Shatabdi ).
Solution 4.1:- Rajdhani, Duronto and Suvidha should have Chair car compartment, which can also be
used by providing quotas for intermediate stations or where train is vacant. For e.g. Mumbai- Delhi
Rajdhani’s Chair Car can be used by regular travellers of Mumbai- Surat, Surat-Baroda & so on..
Solution 4.2:- Railway should alter coaches and compartments as per passenger’s requirements. For
Every train specific poll can be conducted for requirements of coaches.
Solution 4.3:- At least special train should have General compartment & 2S. These trains are there
for reducing rush & there is no logic for not having general compartment. These can be added with
addition special train charges (E.g. Superfast charges).
Concern 5:- There is a lot discrepancy in Tatkal booking. Some people get benefited due to Internet
booking, some people due to big station with many counters and so many variables come in to
picture. Also it is injustice to the people spending whole night on Railway station just to get Tatkal
ticket and it gets over in seconds. Lot men hours are wasted in repeated attempts to book Tatkal
booking on internet fighting with fellow citizens. Finally its luck that matters to get Tatkal ticket.
Online booking on Tatkal is same as Virtual fight with other Travellers to get entry in to Train.
Solution 5.1:- Make Tatkal booking a lottery system. Sounds weird, but its real requirement. People
need to enter details in advance with required payment. System automatically confirms lucky people
at Tatkal booking start & generates waiting list by algorithm. There can be separate Tatkal quota for
people standing in queues at station, who really need tickets urgently or in emergency. Also
corruption during Tatkal booking can be eliminated.
Concern 6:- There is a lot discrepancy in HO quota and tickets getting confirmed under it. It is also
called Emergency Quota. There is no specific information available about higher officials, who can be
contacted in case of emergency. Many people used to say that we can get tickets due to some high
contacts. This is clear injustice to common person, who does not know use of this quota.
Solution 6.1:- There should be strict check that this quota is not misused. Strict Action must be taken
against that.
Solution 6.2:- Officials name to be publicised for contact in terms of emergency at every station or
website
Solution 6.3:- Clear guidelines to be published that which are the emergencies, which can be used
under this quota.
Concern 7:- Majority of People are unaware about lot many ticket quotas like GNWL, PQWL, RLWL
which are varying largely based on specific station & specific train. This quotas & train related
information is not available in public domain or on stations. Many times PQWL1 doesn’t get confirm
but GNWL100 gets confirm easily. Common man suffers due to this ignorance. Due to this confusion,
many people don’t prefer railway. Many times train remain vacant despite waiting shown just before
Chart preparation.
Solution 7.1:- Railway to show real time bookings made in every train online and kiosk to help
traveller understand situation. Pooled Quota is shared by many stations and remain puzzle for
travellers till preparation of chart.
Solution 7.2:- Indian railway to make available data of past train journeys & tickets confirmation
happened at final chart preparation with probability details. It will help people to understand
confirmation trends & chances of their travel. Data can be uploaded on IRCTC or different website. If
confirmation chances probability can be shown at the time of booking, it will be the greatest help to
travellers.
Solution 7.2:- Kiosk and Booking counters should help in deciding travellers of probability of
confirmation chances.
Concern 8:- Middle & Upper birth allotment for Elderly people, pregnant women , people who really
needs lower birth.
Solution 8.1:- No Birth allotment at the time of Booking even with confirmed ticket. Airlines to be
benchmarked. Only specific Requirement to be mentioned at the time of booking. For e.g.
Handicap, Medically unfit etc. Birth allotment should be based on specified Requirement and age
at the time of Chart preparation. Lower birth quota should be abolished. Every senior citizen should
get Lower birth if possible. Why separate quota for that? This will also increase more nos of seats for
booking.
Regards,
Mihir Astik
09766819236
[email protected]