Getting a seat on a train during Diwali-Chhath is like getting bread for the hungry. Many people book tickets 3 months in advance. In such a situation, people who have to travel due to some emergency or whose leave is approved late from the office hardly get a confirmed seat. To control the crowd during the festive season and to provide convenience to the passengers, Indian Railways also runs many special trains (Festive Special Trains), but still one is not able to get a confirmed seat on many routes.

In such a situation, the question arises whether there is any trick to get a confirmed train ticket in this situation. The answer is 'yes'. Indian Railways had started the Train Alternate Train Accommodation Scheme (ATAS) to get a confirmed train ticket. Many passengers still do not know about this scheme. We will tell you about this scheme below.

What is the Train Alternate Accommodation Scheme (ATAS)
Now passengers can also book train tickets with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI). ATAS was started to make the process of train booking easier with the help of AI. It is also called Vikalp Yojana. The purpose of this scheme is to provide confirmed tickets to the passengers.

If a passenger books a waiting ticket and selects the option of ATAS. Then ATAS helps in providing a seat on another train on that route. Now understand it like this if you check the seat availability of all the trains while booking a ticket but there is no confirmed seat in any, then you get tired and take a waiting ticket for any train. After some time, if a ticket gets cancelled in another train, then ATAS will send you a notification and inform that a confirmed seat is available in that train. Now you can transfer your waiting ticket to another train and in this way, you will get a confirmed seat. This scheme will be very beneficial for those passengers who are traveling in an emergency.

How to avail the benefits of Vikalp Yojana
While booking tickets online, Vikalp Yojana is suggested. You have to select this option. Now you have to select 7 trains that run on your route. If the train on which you have booked a seat does not have a confirmed seat available and a seat is available on another train, then you will get a seat on the other train.

Please note that it is not necessary that after selecting Vikalp Yojana you will get a confirmed seat. You will get a seat only if a seat is available in any of the 7 trains selected by you. This facility of Indian Railways gives more options to the passengers and also tries to make the journey easier.