Premium Tatkal

The Indian economy and the citizens are both highly dependent on railways for easy, quick, and comfortable commutation.Every day there is a huge rush of passengers on the train, and the Railway Ministry has come up with various rules to efficiently manage the ever rising demands of railway tickets. Apart from the daily travellers and the planned bookings, there are thousands of people seeking urgent train tickets.In order to provide rail facilities to emergency travellers, IRCTC (Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation) offers tatkal and premium tatkal tickets. The latter is a newly introduced train ticket booking feature where you are offered only confirmed tickets. Read on to know about the premium tatkal facility of the railways.For quick and effortless rail tickets, you may also book through Redrail by Redbus. It is a platform that eases your task of train ticket booking.

The word ‘tatkal’ means instant. Since there is a high demand for train reservations across the year, IRCTC has a few seats reserved for emergency passengers, known as tatkal seats. Recently, IRCTC introduced premium tatkal, which is slightly different from the basic Tatkal reservation.Premium tatkal follows a dynamic pattern for the pricing of the tickets. Depending on the demand of the premium tatkal booking, the pricing is done. This means, that the higher the demand, the higher the premium tatkal charges and vice-versa. There are limited seats available under premium tatkal reservation, and the booking can be done only through the online platform of IRCTC and not offline.With a fixed time (that starts at 10 AM for AC and 11 AM for non-AC) premium tatkal booking is available for all those seeking emergency ticket booking. You may also explore redRail for quick and easy premium tatkal booking.

One may get confused between the tatkal booking and premium tatkal booking. To have a clear understanding, let's see the difference between tatkal and premium tatkal:Tatkal Booking

The fare of tatkal seats are fixed

Tatkal tickets can be booked via an agent

RAC(Reservation Against Cancellation) or WL (Waiting List) tickets are booked through tatkal booking

Cancellation of tatkal train tickets is possible

Tatkal tickets can be booked through both online and offline.

Premium Tatkal Booking

Premium tatkal charges are dynamic and not fixed. It rises with the rise in demand

Premium tatkal booking cannot be made through agents. It's prohibited.

Premium tatkal only books confirmed tickets

Cancellation of premium tatkal is not available

Offline counter tickets are not available for premium tatkal booking

he premium tatkal ticket booking time is 10 am and 11 am for AC and non-AC seats, respectively. You may want to know how to book premium tatkal tickets. The reservation of premium tatkal is only made through the website of IRCTC. So, here is the procedure for the same:

• Login to IRCTC using login credentials
• Enter the departure and destination cities
• Choose the option of premium tatkal ticket
• Select the train and enter the details of the passengers
• Make the payment to get the confirmed ticket.

Make sure to carry a government-issued ID while travelling.

In order to properly understand what is premium tatkal, here are a few things that you must know:

• Premium tatkal ticket booking time is 10 AM for AC and 11 AM for non-AC passengers. So, make sure to book the tickets on time
• Premium tatkal booking can be made only through the official website of IRCTC. Booking through a third-party website/application, any agent, or offline method is not available
• The premium tatkal ticket can be cancelled but offers no refund to the passengers. Only under certain situations, like if the departure station is not covered by the train, a diverted route of the train, or unavailability of the reserved seat, is the refund granted
• Premium Tatkal offers only confirmed tickets and not RAC/WL
• No concession or lower fare for children is charged, and rather, the full premium tatkal price is charged
• Premium tatkal offers only e-tickets and not I-tickets.

Managing the rush of booking for seats, the facilities of railways, and the maintenance of the trains is a huge task for Indian railways. However, the department has been doing quite well for decades. This is why it has been called one of the largest railway systems in the world. In case you have an unplanned trip, you can still secure a seat of your choice on the preferred train via premium tatkal. Make sure to book a ticket during the premium tatkal ticket booking time.