r/IndiaInfrastructure

Rant: IRCTC Tatkal booking has become a complete joke. What exactly are we paying for?

Tried booking a Tatkal ticket for my mother today and the IRCTC website and Railone App experience was absolute torture.

The moment Tatkal opened, the site started throwing nonstop errors:

High traffic,

Session expired,

Random logouts,

Payment failures,

I must have logged in 10 times just to get kicked out again. And no, it wasn’t my internet. Stable high-speed connection, same issue across both devices. Even used a VPN on one device. The system simply cannot handle the traffic during Tatkal hours, despite this being a daily predictable event for YEARS.

What’s even more frustrating is how difficult Regular ticket bookings have become nowadays, especially during summer. Most trains go into waiting list almost immediately after opening. Then suddenly during Tatkal, limited seats appear and disappear within seconds. Premium Tatkal prices also shoot up to ridiculous levels, sometimes nearly 3-4x the normal fare. So now passengers are expected to fight server crashes and pay insane prices.

At this point Tatkal booking feels less about speed and more about luck, bots, agents, and whether IRCTC servers decide to function for 30 seconds. I literally meditated for 5 min to not mistakenly pass on my frustration onto someone!

The funniest part? IRCTC reportedly handles millions of transactions daily and earns massive revenue from convenience fees, service charges, Premium Tatkal pricing, catering commissions, ads, tourism packages, etc. Yet during the single most critical booking window of the day, the platform still collapses under “high traffic.” Humans discovered Mars water before IRCTC discovered load balancing.

I seriously want to know:

Is IRCTC intentionally limiting concurrent users during Tatkal?
Why are so few confirmed seats available in the normal quota nowadays?
Why does Premium Tatkal pricing become absurdly expensive so fast?

And importantly,

How TF is this level of server instability and incompetence still considered acceptable in 2026?

For a country where railways are the lifeline for millions, the booking experience is honestly embarrassing. Every Tatkal booking feels less like buying a train ticket and more like participating in an online survival game.

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u/Jigar_bomb — 2 days ago

▲ 53 r/IndiaInfrastructure

I am so fed up of Indian railways being so dirty and low maintened

Now ik this post will trigger many hardcore nationalists but i couldn't give a fuck cause at the end of the day I'm telling the truth. It's true that india is very dirty in general and indians are very bad at regular civics sense. Like we want the other countries where we're migrating to be clean but we don't keep OUR OWN country clean first. And on top of that indian railways are super dirty. Like dirty asf! There is litter everywhere on rail tracks and also pee and poop on the train boards below cause indian railway toilets are designed to spill the pee and poop on the tracks which is very disgusting and unhygienic cause this is the gateway to diseases but Indians don't know that cause Indians barely even give a shit about hygiene. And also indian railway stations are have full litter even on the platforms cause once lack of civic sense. So yeah. I hope this our infrastructure gets developed in the future or this country will fall into ruin. It's aldready the bad now.

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u/Unlikely-Floor3683 — 7 days ago

▲ 324 r/IndiaInfrastructure+2 crossposts

What If Machines Replaced Manual Scavenging 100% ?

What If Machines Completely Replaced Manual Scavenging in India?

Manual scavenging is officially banned in India, yet sanitation workers still die while cleaning sewers and septic tanks due to toxic gases such as hydrogen sulfide and methane.

Technologies like suction-cum-jetting machines, hydrovac trucks, and robots such as Bandicoot already exist. In theory, they can significantly reduce or even eliminate the need for humans to enter hazardous spaces.

But if the technology exists, why are workers still being sent inside?

Some possible reasons:

- Hiring daily wage workers may be cheaper than renting and operating machines.

- Smaller municipalities may not have enough equipment.

- Maintenance and operator training are often inadequate.

- Enforcement of existing laws remains weak.

- Economic pressure forces workers to accept dangerous jobs.

My question:

If India made mechanized sewer cleaning mandatory in every district, how much could this reduce sewer deaths, and what barriers would still remain? Because today, also many deaths are felt.

Sources 👇🏼

1.(631 people died cleaning sewers) https://www.business-standard.com/article/current-affairs/at-least-631-people-died-cleaning-sewers-septic-tanks-in-last-10-yrs-ncsk-120092000247\_1.html

2.(Supreme court statement)

https://cjp.org.in/supreme-court-bans-manual-scavenging-in-metro-cities/

3.(Caste based Manual scavenging)

https://www.shankariasparliament.com/current-affairs/prevalence-of-manual-scavenging-in-india

4.(Robot replacing manual scavenging)

https://www.fairplanet.org/editors-pick/robots-are-helping-india-eradicate-manual-scavenging/

5.(Death number reduced to 46)

https://www.groundxero.in/2026/03/26/41-deaths-in-90-days-manual-scavengers-demand-accountability-say-prime-minister-must-apologise/

6.(SKA revealing diff. death no.)

https://maktoobmedia.com/post?id=114442&slug=over-120-deaths-in-2025-safai-karamchari-andolan-alleges-underreporting-calls-sewer-deaths-a-national-shame

7.(Death of a Manual Scavenger)

https://www.ndtv.com/delhi-news/sewer-deaths-rickshaw-puller-3-workers-die-after-falling-into-sewer-in-delhi-2851242

8.(Gujarat incident)

https://theprint.in/india/two-workers-choke-to-death-while-cleaning-storage-tank-at-factory-in-gujarats-morbi-town/2028107/

9.(Causes of Manual Scavenging)

https://www.pmfias.com/manual-scavenging/

10.(Steps taken by gov.)

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1842703&reg=3&lang=2

11.(NAMASTE project)

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=2012373&reg=3&lang=2

12.(NAMASTE project for safety)

https://socialjustice.gov.in/schemes/37

13.(Govt. Words on free Manual scavenging)

https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleseDetailm.aspx?PRID=2042007&reg=3&lang=2

u/Formula_explains — 9 days ago

▲ 195 r/IndiaInfrastructure+3 crossposts

Japanese HSR tracks on MAHSR (Few pics from the chinese side for comparison)

Pic 1: A worker filling the gap between the stopper and the slab with sealant. This liquid creates a watertight seal and acts as a buffer for thermal expansion, preventing the concrete from cracking.

Pic 2: Japanese J-Slab tracks.

Pic 3: J-Slab precast unit (L&T factory). The circular cutouts lock onto cylindrical stoppers 👉🏼👌🏼 to prevent the track from moving laterally or longitudinally.

Pic 4: Chinese CRTS III track. It features a smooth surface because the stoppers (shear keys) are hidden underneath. Unlike the Japanese design, it uses no liquid sealant and uses different method to tackle thermal expansion.

Pic 5: Chinese CRTS I. An earlier generation of Chinese track that uses the rectangular stoppers shown here.

u/Neat_Papaya900 — 10 days ago

▲ 130 r/IndiaInfrastructure+3 crossposts

What If Naked Wires Get Smart Insulation ?

This video starts with a fantasy scenario:

“What if naked wires could detect exposure themselves, trigger alarms, and auto-register complaints?”

But the real focus is not science fiction.

The real question is:

Why do exposed dangerous wires remain visible for months even after complaints?

I tried exploring:

- delayed maintenance

- department responsibility shifting

- illegal cable clutter

- public normalization of danger

- and whether technology alone can solve infrastructure negligence.

Many developed countries reduced exposed wire risks using underground cabling and smart monitoring systems, but implementing such systems uniformly across India is far more difficult because of scale, maintenance, coordination, and infrastructure inconsistency.

So the bigger question becomes:

Is India’s infrastructure problem mainly technological…

or systemic?

And can smart monitoring actually work if accountability itself is weak?

Sources 👇

1.(Not being Responsive)

https://www.deccanherald.com/india/west-bengal/cesc-disowns-responsibility-for-electrocution-deaths-in-rain-hit-kolkata-after-cm-mamata-banerjee-blames-utility-3740621

2.(conductors affecting Bill)

https://www.konnworld.com/how-bad-wiring-affects-your-electricity-bill/

3.(NCRB data days about electrocution)

https://www.wionews.com/india-news/electrocution-fatalities-30-people-killed-every-day-in-india-says-ncrb-data-610035

4.(scary MAINTENANCE data)