IRCTC offers a choice, at the price of air fare

For instance, if an IRCTC user has a wait-listed ticket to a destination on Deepavali eve or the day before it, IRCTC would send SMSes to the registered mobile phone number or the number furnished for booking tickets, the details pertaining to special trains operated on the route on the date of journey. 

Travellers who have wait-listed tickets in Coimbatore-bound Cheran Express on October 27 had received messages till Saturday, advising them to make use of a Suvidha special train (Train No 82629) being operated on the same day. The SMS reading “Wait-listed to go home for Deepavali on October 27?” has asked users to avail of confirmed third AC and sleeper berths on the Suvidha train for which bookings opened at 8 am on Sunday morning. 

IRCTC officers who admitted to promoting the special train operations said the messages would be sent to users based on immediate  next journey plan and train availability on the route. 

However, there is a catch in the offer. The SMSes or rather the ‘special services’ would help only if travellers are willing to pay through their nose.

Yes. Train No 82629, which Indian Railways has been promoting among wait-listed passengers for a few days now, sounds costlier than air travel. Early Sunday evening, third AC ticket fare (dynamic pricing — 14 tickets available at 6.50 pm) in the train was Rs 2,625, higher than an economy class (Chennai-Coimbatore) air ticket.

Even the normal second class sleeper ticket has been priced at Rs 1,105 per person in the train, threefold more than normal fare (Rs 315 in Cheran Express) for that category of ticket.