IRCTC has released a new version of its site. This version of its site had been in beta for a while. The new site is easier to use when planning a journey. Watch out for more details here. The new site gives a very good interface if you're going to plan a journey. The new system is problematic for frequent travellers though. With the introduction of captcha in the quick book page things are harder now. Most of the time it doesn't load at all.
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Tag Archives: tatkal
CKWL status
23 Comments
I get a lot of queries regarding ckwl status. These involve questions like -
“I got a tatkal ticket of WL 17 in sleeper on train 2833. Today is 24th Feb 2010. and my train is on 26th Feb.?
Total tatkal seats is 229. Is it likely to be confirmed?”
It’s tough to answer such a question. There are different factors to keep in mind.
1. The route in which the train runs. Some routes, like Chennai – Bangalore route, are busy. Cancellations are probably low here. You are more likely to get a CKWL status if you book a train in a busy route.
2. The day for which the ticket is booked. Tatkal ticket bookings are high on Fridays and Sundays. If you look at tatkal bookings in a busy route like Bangalore <–> Ernakulam, you will find that booking is high on Fridays for Bangalore –> Ernakulam and high on Sundays for Ernakulam –> Bangalore.
3. Which train are you travelling on? If you’ve booked tatkal tickets for a train which is at a convenient time for most people (for eg. Island express at 9:45 pm is convenient for those going from Bangalore –> Ernakulam), then the likelihood of getting a CKWL status is higher compared to getting a CKWL status on a less conveniently timed train ( There’s a train at 5:15 train from Bangalore –> Ernakulam. Not convenient because most people can’t get out of office that early).
4. Occassionally the railways add extra coaches to a train when there’s a big waiting list. Chances are high that your CKWL status becomes confirmed in that case. I assume this is more likely to happen during the rush season (summer holidays?).
5. Some people cancel their tickets at the very last moment.
6. Some people forget to cancel their tickets
I have faced situations where a CKWL 11 did not get converted to a confirmed ticket. But I’ve also faced situations where my CKWL 30 ticket got confirmed. My advice to you is that unless you have a very high CKWL status, say CKWL 50, you ought to wait till the last moment. You won’t get much if you cancel a tatkal ticket anyway. It’s worth a shot.
Mind you, this advice is free and does not come with any guarantees. I’m not responsible if you wait for a ticket and it does not get confirmed. YMMV 
Filed under misc
May 11, 2010
Booking tatkal tickets on IRCTC the supercool way
40 Comments
Update : IRCTC has blocked Quick book from 8 AM - 9 AM. This method will not be useful in such a scenario.
This article is a short demo to using Firefox's Autofill Forms extension to book tatkal tickets. First step is to go to https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/4775 and install the extension. You'll need to restart Firefox for the extension to take effect.
Now that it's done, head to the IRCTC website and login. Now head to the Quick Book page. You can fill in the details.
If you do not know the train number, you can get it from the "Plan My Travel" page. Now that you've filled up all the details you want to, right click on one of the form textboxes.
Edit : IRCTC has now disabled right clicks. As a workaround you need to paste 
A new window like this will now open up
You can close the window and reload the QuickBook page. Press the Alt+j key combination to autofill the form. You can reload the page as many times as you want and press Alt+j to autofill.
This post is dedicated to my good friend Dhanya.
Edit : OK, I'm giving into blackmail from someone crafty and cunning(not my words)
Update : Wondering what CKWL means? Check out my blog post on CKWL status on Tatkal railway ticket.
If you do not know the train number, you can get it from the "Plan My Travel" page. Now that you've filled up all the details you want to, right click on one of the form textboxes.
Edit : IRCTC has now disabled right clicks. As a workaround you need to paste javascript:void(document.oncontextmenu=null) into your address bar to re-enable the right click. See my post on IRCTC's disabled right click.
Click on the "Add complete form as profile" option.
A new window like this will now open up
You can close the window and reload the QuickBook page. Press the Alt+j key combination to autofill the form. You can reload the page as many times as you want and press Alt+j to autofill.
This post is dedicated to my good friend Dhanya.
Edit : OK, I'm giving into blackmail from someone crafty and cunning(not my words)
@gjoos : i want my name included in that blogpost if you want me to TRY booking tickets for you tomorrow !!!So, Divya chechi.. this post is dedicated to you as well
Update : Wondering what CKWL means? Check out my blog post on CKWL status on Tatkal railway ticket.Filed under misc
Dec 31, 2009
CKWL on Tatkal railway ticket
90 Comments
So the other day I booked a tatkal ticket online from IRCTC. After the usual 500 errors and multiple tries I came to the "Congratulations!" page where they gave me the ticket details. And this is what I found in the ticket's status "CKWL 23". I wondered what the heck it was. Googling did not help. I shot off a mail to the IRCTC customer care and within half an hour I got their reply. Reproducing their reply below -
Update : Found something in the IRCTC site in the ngpay FAQ. It says(in point 9)
Dear Customer, Kindly note that CK stands for Tatkal CKWL means Tatkal Wait list Ticket. Thanks & RegardsSo there it goes. Official reply from IRCTC. CKWL is the waiting list for the tatkal quota. It's just like the "WL" you get on the normal ticket, except it's on the tatkal quota. No idea what CK stands for though. Although the reply wasn't exactly Shakespeare, I was impressed that they got back to me so soon. It's nice to see the Railways doing good stuff. There's still room to improve though. Have you had a similar experience with IRCTC? Frustrating one? Good one? The comment form is right below
Update : Found something in the IRCTC site in the ngpay FAQ. It says(in point 9)
Booking can be done against general (GN), ladies (LD) and tatkal (CK) quota berths/seats only.. What this means is that GNWL is General Quota Waiting list, LDWL is Ladies Quota Waiting List and CKWL is Tatkal Quota Waiting list. Pretty much any 4 letter acronym ending in WL is some Waiting list quota or another. For instance if you have been wondering what PQWL means in IRCTC, then it is a Pooled Quota Waiting List. If you're looking to improve the time it takes to book tatkal tickets, you can try the Autofill forms extension. Check out my blog post on how to use the Autofill forms addon.
Filed under misc
Dec 9, 2009