A ray of hope for waitlist dropped Indian railway passengers

Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) has entered into a special collaboration with SpiceJet and GoAir. Waitlist dropped train passengers can now book flight tickets at a concessional rate from these two airlines, subject to fulfilment of several conditions. The airlines must have flights covering the departure and arrival points as per the train ticket, and seats available on the same. The waitlisted tickets must have been bought three-days prior to the date of journey and have not been confirmed during the time of chart preparation. Eligible passengers will get an email from IRCTC. Passengers will have to log on to air.irctc.co.in, choose his/her name from the train ticket list and then click on ‘flight search’. While IRCTC has said that passengers will get a significant discount, the tickets also have stricter cancellation policies. Besides, since passengers will come to know of their eligibility only after chart preparation, it is necessary to check that they have enough time to reach the airport to adhere to the airlines’ permissible check-in time. For more details, check www.air.irctc.co.in/info_distress.html