INDIAN RAILWAYS UPDATE: Every year, during any festivity, people’s zeal for travelling goes through the roof. There’s traffic on the roads, flights are overbooked, and trains are jam-packed. The situation is no different for Holi this year. The festival of colours is right around the corner. Those charting up last-minute plans to travel somewhere for the festival are likely to have a tough time getting confirmed tickets on trains. Thankfully, there is still hope left for the latecomers to the party.
If you are planning to travel on busy routes like Delhi-Patna, Patna-Mumbai, or Lucknow-Delhi, you are probably expecting to adjust in others’ seats or spend most of your time standing. This could be the case even on Holi Special trains. The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s (IRCTC) VIKALP scheme, as the name suggests, can be a great alternative and spare you some suffering.
All You Need to Know About VIKALP
- VIKALP, also known as the Alternate Train Accommodation (ATAS), was announced in 2015.
- It aims to provide a more convenient travel experience to passengers on Indian Railways.
- It allows passengers to choose other trains and receive confirmed tickets while booking waiting status seats online.
- Passengers need to check the availability of seats on their desired train during the booking process.
- If seats are not available or are shown as waiting, they can opt for the IRCTC VIKALP scheme.
- It provides details of additional trains on the same route, including the booked train, and passengers can opt for a maximum of seven trains.
- The option can also be selected from the history of booked tickets.
- Once selected, the passenger needs to click the “Submit” button to activate the ‘VIKALP’ option.
Only passengers who opted for VIKALP while booking in waiting, and remain fully waitlisted even after the charting is done will be considered for allotment in alternate trains. It is important to note that passengers may be shifted to a train leaving from any station amongst the cluster of stations that are defined by Railways based on the traveller’s convenience to a station serving the chosen station.
However, it is essential to note that choosing the VIKALP scheme does not guarantee a confirmed berth on an alternate train. The availability of a berth is subject to the availability of seats on the alternate train. Still, if you are struggling to get a confirmed train ticket this Holi, the VIKALP scheme is worth a shot since it can increase your chances of a comfortable journey.
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