CHENNAI: The newly introduced premium tatkal tickets could burn holes in the pockets of railway passengers, as it could cost double or more than the normal tatkal fare, based on dynamic fare pricing.
Railways had announced the introduction of premium tatkal tickets on Wednesday on selected trains, whose pricing would be dynamic and based on demand.
An official of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) said that the fare would vary according to slabs.
“For instance, the first 20 per cent of the premium tatkal tickets would have one fare, the next slab would have a higher fare and so on,” he said. Exact details on the fare were unavailable as it was decided by the Railway Board and fed into the booking programme, the official added.
When Express checked the fares on Friday evening, premium tatkal tickets for AC two-tier class on the Chennai-Howrah Coromandel Express for October 4 were costlier than first class AC ticket.
The premium tatkal tickets for sleeper class were sold out, while only four out of a maximum of 24 were available in AC three-tier.
The premium tickets can only be bought online through the website irctc.co.in. These were introduced on trains that had heavy rush during the festival season, which is underway.
Fifty per cent of the total number of tatkal tickets have been set aside for the premium pricing.