MADURAI: The Indian Railways has dropped another bombshell on AC class passengers by silently increasing the Tatkal quota for 2AC and 3AC classes recently. The number of berths earmarked for Tatkal class in 3AC sleeper has gone up from 16 to 20 berths per coach, while the berth allocation in 2AC has been raised from 10 to 17 per coach. Also, AC Chair Car Tatkal quota has been increased from 16 to 22 per coach.
Thanks to the recently introduced Tatkal allocation, around 50 to 60 berths are now priced at Tatkal rates in every superfast and express train, as against the normal fare. Passengers will need to additionally shell out Rs 400 for 2AC and Rs 350 for 3AC tickets for distances up to 500 km. Beyond that, they have to spend Rs 500 extra per ticket in both classes.
This has immensely impacted passengers from the southern districts, especially in Tirunelveli, Sengottai, Kanniyakumari, Thoothukudi and Madurai, who are solely dependent on trains for transport.
Earlier, AC tickets booked at least one week before the travel date from Chennai to Madurai and vice versa with a waitlist of 15 to 20 would get confirmed.
“Two weeks ago, a ticket with waitlist 4 in Nellai Express did not get confirmed even though the tickets were booked 20 days ago. Hence, I was forced to buy a Tatkal ticket by spending Rs 1,560 in 2AC,” said S Sreedharan, a frequent traveller from Madurai.
Around 400 to 500 berths from 2AC and 3AC in Pandiyan, Nellai, Ananthapuri, Rockfort, Podhigai, Pearl City, Rameswaram, Silambu, Mannai and Sethu express trains have been allocated for Tatkal.
While 50 percent of the Tatkal tickets in Pandiyan and Nellai express trains have already been earmarked for Premium Tatkal (dynamic pricing), the reduction of berths in the normal fare tickets has received sharp criticism. S R Sreeram, President, Kanniyakumari District Railway Users’ Association, said the Railways should not act like corporates and private companies.
“As it is, a huge chunk of rail passengers have moved to cars and flights because of the poor service,” he said.