The Indian Railways is harming the entire public to harness its own coffers.The advance booking 120days prior t o the actual journey helps Railways interest free funds from general public who in their anxiety to book tickets lock their funds at least for 3 or 4 bookings on different dates as no body can pre plan their travel 4months in advance.
Even on the opening day of reservation only side upper berths are available making everybody to cancel the booking after sometime.Another big fraud is that for First AC, they only confirm the reservation without allotting berth on first come first served basis.
In nutshell, Indian Railways only encourage touts who form a coterie and book on different name and ages for all dates and share the tickets for a hefty sum at the time of journey.Indian Railways should first make advance reservation only 90days in advance and ID should be specifically incorporated for not only for lead members but also for all adults so that falsification of identity by touts and any manipulation can be totally avoided.
They should fix separate seats for online and booking at reservation counters.