The Ministry of Railways has taken several steps to provide better facilities to the passengers traveling by train. Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched the ‘VIKALP Scheme’ for the convenience of passengers.
Under this scheme, passengers with waiting tickets can get confirmed seats in alternative trains. In the financial year 2023-24, more than 57,200 passengers were provided seats in other alternative trains under the ‘Vikalp’ scheme. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav gave this information in the Rajya Sabha.
On Monday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav was answering questions asked by Nationalist Congress Party member Fauzia Khan in Parliament. He had questioned the government about the success rate of the Vikalpa scheme and also asked what is the plan to expand this scheme in high demand routes.
What is Option Plan?
Ashwini Vaishnav said that under this scheme, passengers with waiting tickets are provided confirmed seats (Confirm Train Ticket Online) and seats are provided in alternative trains to ensure maximum utilization of available seats. This scheme has been in effect since 2016 and is available at all railway stations across the country.
The Railway Minister said that waiting list tickets are issued in the reserved quota to utilise the seats that become vacant in lieu of cancellation of confirmed seats and to help the Railways assess the demand pattern. According to Ashwini Vaishnav, the waiting list status of all trains running on Indian Railways is monitored on a regular basis.
So let us know in detail how the Railway’s ‘Vikalp’ scheme works and how you can get a confirmed train ticket under it.
How can you avail the benefits of this scheme?
Let us tell you that under the Vikalp scheme, passengers with waitlisted tickets can choose the option of an alternative train for their journey. For this, they will have to provide some additional information during train ticket booking. If seats are available in that train (Indian Railways seat availability), then they get a confirmed seat. This helps the passengers to complete their journey with certainty.
Railway’s ‘Vikalp’ scheme (Vikalp Option in IRCTC Booking) is a very useful initiative for the passengers. This scheme helps the passengers to make their journey more convenient and enjoyable. This scheme gives the passengers more options for their journey and increases their chances of getting a confirmed seat. Along with this, there is maximum use of vacant seats in the train and the railways gets an increase in revenue.
How to use Option Plan?
IRCTC’s Vikalp scheme is an easy way for those with waiting tickets to get a confirmed seat. It is quite easy to use the ‘Vikalp’ scheme of Indian Railways. Follow these easy steps:
- First of all, visit the official website or mobile app of IRCTC and log in.
- Enter travel details such as departure and destination stations, travel date, and train class etc.
- Select the number of passengers and start the ticket booking process. You will be redirected to the payment gateway.
- Before starting the payment process, you will see a checkbox named “Options”. Select this box.
- After selecting “Alternatives”, you will see a list of alternative trains that run on your selected route. Select the trains of your choice from these.
- After the ticket booking process is complete, check your PNR status (Passenger Name Record). When the seat is confirmed in an alternate train, you will see an update in the PNR status.
Know about these things related to Option Plan
There is no additional charge for using the Vikalp scheme. Once the passenger is allotted a seat in another train, the passenger cannot return to his/her first booking. Once the seat is confirmed in another train, the original ticket is cancelled. However, passengers need to understand that if the alternative confirmed ticket is being cancelled, the cancellation charge will be applicable. Also, passengers must ensure that they agree with the timing of the alternative train, as it may be 12 hours before or after the original train timings.
Railways is running special trains to provide better facilities to passengers
The Railway Minister said that Indian Railways is constantly making efforts to provide better facilities to the passengers. Passenger services are constantly improving due to the continuous efforts of the Railways. Under this, Indian Railways, apart from various types of regular trains, runs special trains during festivals and holidays to meet the additional needs of the passengers.
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