Buy tickets to get 'regret' message, officials mum

A strange problem has arisen for people trying to book train tickets online ahead of Chhath and other major festivals, something that hasn't happened before.

- RAJESH KUMAR THAKUR @ New Delhi

Within less than a minute after bookings open on the Indian Railways website, people see a "regret" status. Many think this could be caused by touts using illegal software.

"Whenever advance booking, which opens just 60 days before the date of departure, begins for major festivals like Chhath and Diwali in Bihar-bound trains, including Tejas Rajdhani and others, ordinary passengers anxious to buy tickets end up staring at the 'regret' status instead," remarked many who failed to buy tickets to Bihar in recent days.

Increasingly, people suspect that touts are using illegal software to cause these problems, and that IRCTC's systems are not detecting them.