Waitlisted passengers on two sectors of the Indian Railways will be able to get confirmed berths in the next train on the same route from Sunday, as per a new experiment the national transporter is trying out. The Railways issued a statement Saturday saying the pilot project of a new scheme, named Vikalp, will be launched on the Delhi-Lucknow and Delhi-Jammu routes Sunday. The idea is to accommodate waitlisted passengers into another train on the same route subject to availability. [related-post] For the first six months, the option will be available only to those who book tickets online and for Mail or Express trains. “We will assess the passenger feedback and, based on the assessment, will extend the scheme to other routes as well,” said a Railway spokesman. At no extra cost, passengers booking online will be presented with a menu of alternate trains on same route if the train has waitlisted tickets. The Railways aims to achieve the twin objectives of providing confirmed accommodation to waitlisted passengers and to ensure optimal utilisation of available accommodation by this scheme. If a passenger opts for the Vikalp scheme while booking tickets online, he/she will get an SMS alert about confirmed accommodation in an alternative train.
