Last-minute travellers help railways earn Rs 25,000 cr in last 4 years: RTI

Last-minute travellers have helped railways earn a whopping Rs 25,392 crore in the last four years, an RTI has found.

The national transporter earned Rs 21,530 crore from Tatkal quota tickets and an additional Rs 3,862 crore from Tatkal Premium tickets between 2016 and 2019, with a massive 62 per cent increase in revenue from the latter during this period.

Tatkal booking was introduced in 1997 in select trains with an objective of providing accommodation for last-minute travellers and was extended across the country in 2004.

Tatkal ticket charges have been fixed as a percentage of fare at the rate of 10 per