CHENNAI: Here is a bit that will please wait-listed train passengers. Very soon they will be able to travel, courtesy an alternative train accommodation scheme which will provide them confirmed seats on the next available train.
Introduced as a trial in November 2015, the alternate train accommodation scheme (ATAS), also called Vikalpa, is an optional facility where wait-listed passengers are allotted seats in an another train, scheduled to leave within a specific time gap, and without making them pay any fare difference unless there is a significant difference in fares between the two trains (like between an ordinary express
and Shatabdi or Rajdhani Express).
According to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) officials, the scheme which was available on very few sectors with limited scope of transfer, is being expanded across all categories of trains, including premium trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi Expresses.
For instance, the AC chair car waitlist for Kovai Express, scheduled to leave Chennai Central at 6-15am on March 29 (Wednesday) stands at 14, but more than 300 seats are available for the same class on the Shatabdi express, which leaves exactly an hour later. It is this changing occupancy pattern that railways intend to rationalise by providing passengers on overbooked trains to shift to other trains, which would otherwise run with vacant seats.
“At the time of booking, passengers will be able to choose an alternate train. If even after chart preparation of their original train, they remain waitlisted, they will be transferred to the alternate train of their choice in the same class. Passengers will get SMS alerts on their registered mobile numberd about the alternate accommodation,” explained an IRCTC official, who insisted on anonymity as he was not supposed to speak to the media.
He added that Vikalpa would help optimise berth use across all trains as well as increase railway earnings by reducing refunds on waitlisted tickets. “We have not received a formal circular specifying a launch date, but the facility will be started on online bookings and later extended to ‘at the counter’ tickets,” he said.