RailEnquiry

Buying a railway ticket has become Mission Impossible for the aam aadmi, turning the once useful Tatkal reservation system into a tout-driven arrangement.And these facilitators are pretty much in your face. Just visit the New Delhi Railway Station and you'll find them lurking all over, helping hands that come at a 200 per cent markup.A Mail Today Investigation unearthed this racket on Tuesday when our team visited the railway station on an apparently easy quest for a ticket. The team walked around the station premises, speaking to officials as well as touts. What we found was a well-oiled racket that deals in Tatkal and VIP quota tickets that could be worth many 2G scams in size every year if extrapolated nationwide.
One tout approached us. "Where do you have to go?"
Looking suitably hassled, we named our destination - Patna. The tout wasn't wasting any time."I can get you a confirmed III AC ticket for Rajdhani Express," he said with an easy confidence.We asked him whether the ticket would be in our names. "100 per cent, boss," he said, "You will get it in your name. You will have to pay Rs 4,800," he added."Is it Tatkal or are you getting us VIP quota seats?" we asked."Same thing," the tout said nonchalantly.We were then taken to a local travel agent, the board outside whose office said: 'Tourist Centre Approved by Government.' There were at least seven eight customers inside the small office, and all wanted tickets. Three touts were going full steam on the other side of the counter.We chose this moment to complain about the huge "margin" being charged, hoping to derive some traction with the other ticket-seekers. Without looking up, one of the touts replied, "Brother, we don't keep all the money. We have to pay at least two persons. Just tell me if you want the ticket or not."The tout takes our reporter to a shop after the deal is struckAll this was happening at about 1pm. Tatkal bookings had closed within half an hour of the computerised reservation counter's 10am opening.The Mail Today team went to other ticket shops in the vicinity. It was the same story: tickets available, in our names, and for roughly three times the official rate."We also pay the police on a routine basis to run our business," said one of touts, describing how the take is split between the booking clerks at the reservation counter and railway ministry officials.
Tout by tout, we uncovered the unique modus operandi of the Toutkal Raj. We were told how some officials have managed to manipulate the computerized reservation system. Crores of rupees are involved as most rail travelers don't plan their journey two months in advance when regular booking of tickets starts. Tatkal is the only option left. And that's where all the action, and money, is.
A senior official said on condition of anonymity that a few travel agents have established a network with railway officials.
"They book the tickets through the railway reservation system when the booking actually starts. They book the tickets leaving the space for writing names blank. When a buyer approaches them, they just inform the official sitting inside who fill in the blanks with the names of the passenger," the official said.
This is in addition to the time-honoured practice of simple bribery and impersonation of passengers.
One Puneet Sinha, who also had to go to Patna, couldn't help overhearing the conversation. Later when we told him who we really were, he said: "I had tried this morning. The website did not open till 10.15am, and when I logged in all the tickets were already booked. If a common person cannot buy a ticket through the internet, then why even offer the facility? It appears that it has only been made for agents."
That's exactly what we thought.