Tatkal Ticket Booking

• Ticket booking opens at 10:00 AM on the day before the day of the train at origin station. The day of the journey is defined as the day of chart preparation. For APP based booking TATKAL window opens 1 day in advance excluding the day of journey. If travel date is on 5th TATKAL will open in APP on 4th; on the other side, if date of journey at boarding station is 5th for the train starting at the origin station on 4th, then tatkal booking will open on 3rd.Booking starts at 10:00 AM for air-conditioned coaches. For non air-conditioned reserved coaches it starts from 11:00 AM. No entire trains are defined as Tatkal trains. Unsold Tatkal tickets are released to passengers on a waiting list. Confirmed Tatkal tickets can be canceled, but no refunds are given. Tatkal tickets on the waiting list may be cancelled and refunded. On those trains and in those cases where the average utilization of Tatkal  during the peak period of April to September is 80% and above, the Tatkal charges that are applicable during the peak period will be charged throughout the year, i.e., for both the peak and the non-peak periods Premium Tatkal was introduced on October 1, 2014 covering half of the tickets on certain trains. These tickets can be purchased online only. The program began with a pilot of about 80 trains. Premium Tatkal and regular Tatkal tickets operate in the same manner but premium tatkal will cost more than twice of tatkal ticket.

Online Ticket Booking

It pioneered internet-based rail ticket booking through its website, as well as from the mobile phones via  WIFI ,GPS or SMS It also provides SMS facility to check PNR status and Live Train Status as well. In addition to e-tickets, Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation also offers I-tickets that are basically like regular tickets except that they are booked online and delivered by post. The tickets PNR status is also made available. Commuters on the suburban rail can also book season tickets through the website. It has also launched a loyalty program called Shubh Yatra for frequent travelers. Through this program, passengers can avail discounts on all tickets booked round the year by paying an upfront annual fee.

Seeking to make it easier to book e-tickets, It launched a scheme called Rolling Deposit Scheme (RDS). RDS is an e-ticket booking scheme allowing passengers to reserve seats against advance money kept with the corporation. It has also added flights and hotels booking facilities to their line of online reservation services.

In 11 August 2021, the organisation introduced a smart card system for passengers travelling through unreserved train tickets which can be bought in railway stations and can help them to avoid long queues and these cards can also be recharged online.