The hardships we have in regards to Tatkal bookings on IRCTC website are part of folklore now. Every person has experienced it one or the other time and if you have not, trust me you are a rare breed.
Looks like finally the cries for help have reached IRCTC’s ears. Although they have not brought about an earth-shattering change, it will definitely help users to do their Tatkal bookings much faster.
During the 2 hours of Tatkal booking (from 10:00am to 12:00pm), the website will be sans any kind of advertisements, pop-ups, ugly floating messages, links, images, services and features, banners, alerts, promotional texts, etc. The links on the page will only be in regards to Tatkal bookings.
The new bare-bones look of the site gets activated 30 minutes before commencement of Tatkal booking.
Just to give you an idea, here is the change.
New IRCTC Website During Tatkal Timings
IRCTC Website During Non-Tatkal Timings
Doesn’t that previous version looks so much more pleasing to eyes?
Another interesting aspect is that travel agents will not be able to access the link during this two-hour duration. They are provided with a separate link incase they want to do ticket cancellations.
Since the time this new bare-bones look has been implemented, the average bookings have shot up quite significantly. The first hour bookings have have risen from 48,000 to 58,000 tickets, even surpassing the record 70,000 mark on some occasions.
Few months back, IRCTC had also launched their Window 8 app, which has been quite popular with Windows users, and has been getting some rave reviews as well.
Have you tried tatkal ticket bookings on this super light-weight version of IRCTC, if you have, so share your experiences with us.