How to book IRCTC Tatkal ticket fast?

I recommend you to have a trail one day before the booking date, so that you can have overall idea regarding at what time exactly the tatkal quota is being booked totally. For example if you want to book IRCTC ticket on 23rd, then log in on 22nd 10 AM to check details. Of course this will be applicable only for daily trains.

If any train tatkal quota is totally booked at sharp 10:05 AM then technically it is not possible to book ticket via IRCTC. Because by the time you select class and click on Book link and going through all the subsequent pages, the time will be already 5 minutes over. Moreover the website becomes dead slow after 8 AM, no matter even you are having 10 Mbps net connection. So you will end up booking wait listed ticket even though confirmed seat is available at the time of clicking Book link.

So I suggest don't depend upon IRCTC for tickets where quota is quickly filling (I mean getting REGRET quickly). Instead go to railway station in the morning and be the first person in the queue when the tatkal counter opens. I am not kidding at all. This is the only way of booking tatkal ticket successfully. I hope the reservation clerk will accept your form, instead of processing brokers form first :).

What we will need in the process:

• High speed internet connection, for better reliability.
• Google Chrome browser (with multiple user account to book multiple tickets at a time).
• 2 Google Chrome extensions.
• IRCTC user account, and of course
• Debit/Credit card or Online banking for paymentLets get started:
  1. Create user in Google Chrome but do not associate with Google Account or sync.
  2. Go to newly created chrome user and install Chrome extensions namedAutofill and Allow Right Click.
  3. Go to IRCTC website and fill the login credentials. (wait.. do not hit enter or login button)
     • Right Click and “Add rules for this form” in sub-menu of Autofill. This will save the form and auto fill whenever you come again to the page.
  4. Now hit enter and search the desired train and class for reservation. In this step, our purpose is to go to the passengers’ details page and save to autofill.
  5. On the passengers details page fill the forms (name, sex, age, berth preferences and so on …). Again right-click and save the form to autofill as shown in the image below.
  6. After saving the form, follow the IRCTC instruction to go to the payment option page. Here we should select such payment methods which transact money with fewer steps and clicks. For this purpose I like SBI/HDFC online banking or OR debit card payment option.
  7. If you like to save this sensitive data then again save this to auto fill. BUT don’t forget to delete the information after booking tickets. or save SBI online banking login username and password for one click action, as shown at the bottom of the post.
  8. DON’T pay the amount and hit “Cancel” button if there is or close the window to cancel the ticket.
  Now, You are ready for quickly book tatkal tickets from IRCTC website. For good practice, run the test mode once again and get satisfied if everything is working fine.
  On the day of booking Tatkal Ticket, Login into your IRCTC account at least 15 minutes prior to booking started (i.e. 9:45 AM). And check everything. At this time you may login to your IRCTC account and search trains and stay there until it is 10:00 AM.
  At 10AM you should now proceed for furthers steps to book ticket.
  In this way, you can easily book tatkal tickets.
  Best Practice tips:
  1. Save all the forms I mentioned above. Other forms like “Search Train” will not work and show error. Avoid saving other forms.
  2. Delete all Banking and payment related data from autofill once you used.
  3. Login to IRCTC at 9:45 AM Indian Stranded Time.
  4. AC coaches have significantly less number of Tatkal Tickets Quota compared to Sleeper Class. This is why Sleeper class has better change to book a ticket.
  5. Booking Ticket in test mode is recommended for satisfaction and finding possible errors. Do it.
  6. Use new Chrome user account for faster browser experience.
  7. Never sync banking related data to chrome or any other sync option.
  8. You can book maximum 2 different Tatkal tickets from your (one) account.
  9. Maximum 4 Tatkal tickets can be booked at a time (against a PNR). If you want to book more than 4 tickets create another Chrome account and follow the same tutorial. (Due to high rush and keeping travel agents from out of tatkal tickets IRCTC monitors account. So, I will not recommend anyone to book someone else’s tickets from your IRCTC account)
  There is also a trick for quick login to SBI online banking during payment. To do this you will need to create a bookmark in Chrome “Bookmarks bar” with the given code. To know how to create a bookmark in Google Chrome visit here.
  Now when you visit SBI internet banking page for IRCTC payment, click the bookmark. you will be automatically logged in to SBI. In the code below you will need to change the username and password written in bold, with yours own. I will suggest you to visit SBI login page and test your bookmark for trial, far before booking you online Tatkal ticket for any misconfiguration.
  Code for SBI quick login:

  javascript:function E(){ f0=document.forms[0];f0['userName'].value='USERNAME'; f0['password'].value='PASSWORD'; f0['Button2'].click(); }E()

  Replace USERNAME and PASSWORD with your real ones and save it as bookmark for quick login to SBI internet banking. I have tested the above code on Firefox as well. After booking Tatkal ticket quickly DELETE the bookmark.
  Now, you will have better chance to book Tatkal Ticket online from IRCTC. If you have any suggestion or problem, don’t forget we have commenting system to discuss that. And don’t forget to share the article on twitter, Facebook or Google+. This will help us a lot.