Central Railway has some good news for people who find it impossible to plan their train travel in advance. In a bid to make the most of increasing demand and cut the clout wielded by touts, the railways has decided to effectively double the quota of tatkal tickets on long-distance trains -- enough to fill up an entire compartment of around 72 seats.

A proposal sent to the Railway Minister a week ago says that one-third of seats on every extra coach added to all Central Railway trains be kept aside for the tatkal quota. Currently, 10 berths in second AC, 16 in third AC, and between 20 and 30 per cent of seats in sleeper class are reserved for Tatkal booking.

Also,  passengers who have booked  waitlisted tickets via tatkal can go to the station a few hours before the train leaves, at which point they will be given berths on a first-come first-serve basis. If the proposal goes through, and officials are confident it will sail through, the number of seats for last-minute travellers will be doubled as per a report in Mumbai Mirror.

Their optimism is based on two solid reasons: The season rush is no longer restricted to summer holidays, and through the year, extra coaches (on an average three) are routinely added to the long-distance trains.

With the domestic airline industry running into rough weather, the load on the railways has increased tremendously. Tickets even on the low-cost carriers are no longer as cheap as they once were, which has meant that more people are going back to travelling by trains.

Central Railway statistics say that between April and December, 2011, it carried 1249.39 million passengers, compared to 1209.39 million between April and December in 2010 – an increase of 3.3 per cent. All 16 zones have seen a similar rise.

Central Railway sources said that the plan is being worked out with the Railway Ministry babus; "Ticketing being a nation-wide affair, obviously changes will be applied to all 17 zones. Hopefully, the plan will be worked out in a few months," a senior official said.

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