The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation has come up with a unique ‘plan B’ to get customers to their destination quickly, even when not in possession of a confirmed train reservation.
IRCTC has teamed up with airlines SpiceJet and GoAir to offer last minute flights to dropped waitlisted passengers.
"The scheme has been formally launched. To avail of the scheme, you first need to have a wait-listed train ticket that has been booked three days prior to the date of journey and which has not been confirmed during the time of chart preparation. Only people with such tickets are eligible," said Sandip Datta, public relations manager for IRCTC.
"The passenger will get an e-mail from IRCTC showing his eligibility. He can then log on to a special site called air.irctc.co.in, choose his name from the train ticket list, and click ‘flight search’. He can then choose the suitable flight from the list," Datta said.
"It is important to note that the system will work only if flights are available to the said destination, or another in the same sector," Datta added.
He also said customers can search for flights for the following day and all last minute or next day tickets booked via the link will be generally 30-40% cheaper than public fares.
