How to quickly book Tatkal Ticket online from IRCTC!

It is really hard to book Tatkal Tickets, either from online or from ticket counters at Railway Stations. When the booking starts (10 AM IST) the site irctc.co.in frequently shows server errors due to high load. In result we failed to book tickets online. This is why I wrote this article.

In this tutorial about “How to quickly book Tatkal Ticket online from IRCTC I will show how we can book Tatkal tickets online in ethical and “sure to win” way.

Please note: IRCTC login time has been changed from 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM. And these tips will work only when IRCTC site is working. 

What we will need in the process:

• High speed internet connection, for better reliability.
• Google Chrome browser (with multiple user account to book multiple tickets at a time).
• 2 Google Chrome extensions.
• IRCTC user account, and of course
• Debit/Credit card or Online banking for payment

Since the Tatkal ticket booking starts from 10 AM morning (Since July 10th, Earlier it was 8AM). So we will need to get ready for booking at least 15 minutes before the booking starts. In the process we will test-drive the IRCTC site and book (not really) proxy ticket.

Lets get started:

1. Create user in Google Chrome but do not associate with Google Account or sync.
2. Go to newly created chrome user and install Chrome extensions named Autofill and Allow Right Click.
3. Go to IRCTC website and fill the login credentials. (wait.. do not hit enter or login button)
   • Right Click and “Add rules for this form” in sub-menu of Autofill. This will save the form and auto fill whenever you come again to the page.
4. Now hit enter and search the desired train and class for reservation. In this step, our purpose is to go to the passengers’ details page and save to autofill.
5. On the passengers details page fill the forms (name, sex, age, berth preferences and so on …). Again right-click and save the form to autofill as shown in the image below.
6. After saving the form, follow the IRCTC instruction to go to the payment option page. Here we should select such payment methods which transact money with fewer steps and clicks. For this purpose I like SBI/HDFC online banking or OR debit card payment option.
7. If you like to save this sensitive data then again save this to auto fill. BUT don’t forget to delete the information after booking tickets. or save SBI online banking login username and password for one click action, as shown at the bottom of the post.
8. DON’T pay the amount and hit “Cancel” button if there is or close the window to cancel the ticket.

Now, You are ready for quickly book tatkal tickets from IRCTC website. For good practice, run the test mode once again and get satisfied if everything is working fine.

On the day of booking Tatkal Ticket, Login into your IRCTC account at least 15 minutes prior to booking started (i.e. 9:45 AM). And check everything. At this time you may login to your IRCTC account and search trains and stay there until it is 10:00 AM.

At 10AM you should now proceed for furthers steps to book ticket.

In this way, you can easily book tatkal tickets.

Best Practice tips:

1. Save all the forms I mentioned above. Other forms like “Search Train” will not work and show error. Avoid saving other forms.
2. Delete all Banking and payment related data from autofill once you used.
3. Login to IRCTC at 9:45 AM Indian Stranded Time.
4. AC coaches have significantly less number of Tatkal Tickets Quota compared to Sleeper Class. This is why Sleeper class has better change to book a ticket.
5. Booking Ticket in test mode is recommended for satisfaction and finding possible errors. Do it.
6. Use new Chrome user account for faster browser experience.
7. Never sync banking related data to chrome or any other sync option.
8. You can book maximum 2 different Tatkal tickets from your (one) account.
9. Maximum 4 Tatkal tickets can be booked at a time (against a PNR). If you want to book more than 4 tickets create another Chrome account and follow the same tutorial. (Due to high rush and keeping travel agents from out of tatkal tickets IRCTC monitors account. So, I will not recommend anyone to book someone else’s tickets from your IRCTC account)

There is also a trick for quick login to SBI online banking during payment. To do this you will need to create a bookmark in Chrome “Bookmarks bar” with the given code. 

Now when you visit SBI internet banking page for IRCTC payment, click the bookmark. you will be automatically logged in to SBI. In the code below you will need to change the username and password written in bold, with yours own. I will suggest you to visit SBI login page and test your bookmark for trial, far before booking you online Tatkal ticket for any misconfiguration.

Code for SBI quick login:

javascript:function E(){ f0=document.forms[0];f0['userName'].value='USERNAME'; f0['password'].value='PASSWORD'; f0['Button2'].click(); }E()

Replace USERNAME and PASSWORD with your real ones and save it as bookmark for quick login to SBI internet banking. I have tested the above code on Firefox as well. After booking Tatkal ticket quickly DELETE the bookmark.

Now, you will have better chance to book Tatkal Ticket online from IRCTC. If you have any suggestion or problem, don’t forget we have commenting system to discuss that. And don’t forget to share the article on twitter, Facebook or Google+. This will help us a lot.