Ad Hoc Delhi Trip From Kolkata
We had to visit Delhi in 4 days notice.. My brother had to attend his M.Sc. entrance exam in Delhi University on 15th June,2015 (Monday). We started booking tickets on 11th June (Thursday). Chances of getting confirmed tickets were almost zero.
Let the research begin.
Kolkata to Delhi
Ticket Booking
We decided to reach Delhi by 14th June( Sunday) night. We can start our journey on 13th June ( Saturday). Tatkal booking for on-going journey will start on one day before on Friday, 12th June. But from my prior experience of Tatkal Booking i did not wanted to take chances. So decided to book some break journey tickets.
Source Stations : Howrah (HWH) Sealdah (SDAH) Kolkata (KOAA) Santragachi Shalimar kharagpur (KGP) - wanted to increase probability by including trains going to Bhubaneswar as well.
Possible Break Journey Halts: Dhanbad Gaya Mughal Sarai Varanasi Allahabad Kanpur Firozabad Agra
Destination Stations: New Delhi (NDLS) Delhi (DLI) Anand Vihar Terminal (ANVT) Nijamuddin
Tried all possible combinations with above mentioned options. My aim was to book maximum available distance from Kolkata to Delhi. The best possible confirmed tickets i got Sealdah - Allahabad (800 km) around 60% of total distance ( Kolkata ~ Delhi = 1400 km). Booked two tickets on ANVT Tatkal.. This was a special train which runs may be to cater increased tickets demands due to summer vacations. Now the remaining portion of journey tickets has to be booked.. But there were no tickets available after Allahabad. So we were left with following options.
Book a tatkal ticket from Allahabad to Delhi Book a tatkal ticket from Kolkata to Delhi Book waiting List tickets physically from Railway Station Passenger Reservation System. Reach Allahabad to Kanpur by local train and Book a tatkal ticket from Kanpur to Delhi Book Bus tickets from Allahabad to Delhi
So on next day 12th June at 10 am i was ready for Tatkal Booking. Initially i thought i will try simultaneously from Laptop + Irctc Website & IRCTC Connect Android App.. But Irctc Connect App allows booking tatkal tickets after 12 pm only. I had a single option left. I was using MTS 3G and also had a backup of Airtel 3G on my phone. I have prepared the list of trains i will try first.
Train List targeted for Tatkal. ANVT Tatkal ( Same Train we were travelling till allahabad)