Railway Ministry Introduces Reforms in Ticket Reservation System; Check Out Major Changes

The Union Railway Ministry is currently underway in introducing modifications and revising existing norms in certain aspects of its operational spectrum. The Union Railway Minister, Ashwini Vaishnaw has reviewed the reservation system and emphasized on reforms for passenger convenience.

The IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) is about to witness certain ground-breaking tweaking and modernization of the ticket-booking process – in an aim to boost the passenger experience prior to the actual travel.

He recently reviewed the progress of ongoing reforms in the passenger’s reservation system and emphasized the need for smart, transparent, accessible and efficient ticketing system with a focus on passenger convenience. Under Vaishnaw’s guidance, officials are working to prepare the reservation chart eight hours before the train’s departure instead of the current system of four hours.

This move will significantly benefit passengers travelling from remote locations or suburbs of major cities for catching long distance trains. It will also provide them more time to make alternative arrangements, in case the wait list is not confirmed.

• The new upgraded Passenger Reservation System (PRS) will allow over 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute. This will be an increase of roughly five times from 32,000 tickets per minute in the current PRS, an increment of a whopping 368%.
• The upgraded and revamped Passenger Reservation System will have a multilingual system, a user-friendly booking and enquiry interface, which will enhance the overall customer experience to a large extent.
• In the new PRS, users will be able to submit their choice of seat and see the fare calendar. It also has integrated facilities for Divyangjan (senior citizens), students and patients.
• Streamlined authentication for Tatkal bookings can be made available now as only authenticated users will be able to book tickets on the IRCTC website and mobile app starting 1st July 2025.
• Railway Ministry enhances passengers waiting list cap from 25 to 60% for AC classes, but this list shall not be applicable for tickets issued on concessional fares, warrants etc. For non-AC classes, the limit has been increased to 30%.

The Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) amended the reservation system looking at the large number and reviewed the situation to redefine the capacity limits for each class (AC and non-AC) and streamline the booking process further. The CRIS process will require OTP-based authentication for Tatkal bookings from the end of July. The authentication should be done using Aadhaar or any other verifiable Government ID available in the user’s DigiLocker account.

These continual measures reflect the Indian Railways’ continuous efforts to modernize its systems and make them more citizen friendly, an impending move that is finally seeing the light.