Title - Tatkal charges to go up

This April, brace yourself for a hike in tatkal charges! According to railway officials, revised charges for tatkal tickets will come into effect from April 1. An announcement to the effect was made during this year’s railway budget.

The minimum and maximum tatkal charges for reserved second sitting seats will remain the same. However, tatkal charges for sleeper class tickets will increase with the minimum charge hiked to `75 and maximum to `175. The minimum charge for AC chair car will increase from `75 to `100, while the maximum charge will increase to `200. The maximum and minimum tatkal charges for AC three tier seats will now be `250 and `300 while the corresponding rates for AC two tier and executive class will be `300 and `400 respectively.  The revised tatkal charges will be ten per cent of the basic fare for reserved second class sitting and 30 per cent of basic fare for all other classes.

The tatkal scheme currently covers around 2677 trains. According to railway figures, around 1.71 lakh seats, of the 11.57 lakh available, are up for booking under the tatkal scheme.

It is also a prominent source of income for the railways, raking in `847 crore during 2011-12, up from `729 crore earned during the previous year.