By South Matters India Desk | India News
Millions of railway passengers faced difficulties during the IRCTC Tatkal Booking Glitches reported on Friday. Users from several cities complained that the IRCTC website and mobile app slowed down or crashed during the high-demand booking window.
The issue sparked widespread frustration as passengers struggled to secure urgent travel tickets.
Tatkal Tickets Disappear Within Minutes
Passengers from cities including Moradabad and Guwahati reported that available seats vanished within minutes of the booking window opening.
Many users said they briefly saw ticket availability before the system either froze or displayed no seats. In several cases, passengers reported losing bookings while completing payment.
The Tatkal scheme reserves a portion of seats for emergency travel one day before departure. Therefore, demand remains extremely high every day.
Heavy Traffic Overwhelms IRCTC Systems
Industry estimates suggest that millions of users attempt to access the platform during Tatkal booking hours.
IRCTC systems process thousands of transactions every minute. However, heavy demand often creates congestion during peak booking periods.
Although Indian Railways has introduced Aadhaar-based verification and anti-bot measures, users continue to face technical challenges on busy routes.
Passengers Raise Concerns Over Agents and Bots
Many passengers questioned whether agents and automated bots still gain an advantage during Tatkal bookings.
Several users claimed that seats disappeared unusually fast despite improvements in security measures. As a result, some travellers turned to online travel agencies and premium booking services, often paying higher charges to secure confirmed tickets.
No Official Response Yet
As complaints spread across social media, neither IRCTC nor the Railway Ministry issued an immediate statement regarding the reported glitches.
Passengers continue to demand better server capacity, improved transparency and stronger safeguards against misuse of the Tatkal booking system.
With railway travel demand rising across India, calls for a more reliable booking experience are growing louder.