New Delhi
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is set to launch a revamped version of its ticket booking website on July 15, aimed at making the reservation process faster, smoother and more user-friendly.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced the rollout during an event in Rajasthan after some students highlighted the difficulties they face while booking train tickets through the existing IRCTC portal. The upgraded platform is designed to significantly enhance booking capacity and improve the overall user experience. According to the announcement, the new website will be capable of processing more than 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute, a substantial jump from the current capacity of around 32,000 bookings per minute.
The Passenger Reservation System (PRS) is also being upgraded to handle more than 40 lakh enquiries per minute, compared with the existing capacity of around 4 lakh enquiries per minute. The enhanced infrastructure is expected to reduce delays and improve responsiveness, especially during peak booking periods such as Tatkal ticket reservations. The revamped website will introduce several new passenger-centric features. Travellers will be able to specify their preferred seat choices while booking tickets, while a new fare calendar will allow users to compare ticket prices across different travel dates before making a reservation. To make the platform more accessible, the website will support multiple Indian languages. It will also offer integrated services for Divyangjan, students and patients through a single platform, simplifying access to special booking facilities.
The new portal is also expected to provide a cleaner and more streamlined interface by eliminating unnecessary pop-ups, distracting flashing graphics and excessive CAPTCHA prompts that often interrupt the booking process. These changes are aimed at making ticket reservations, particularly Tatkal bookings, quicker and more convenient. Another key improvement is the introduction of a unified seat availability view. Instead of checking availability separately for Sleeper, AC 3 Tier, AC 2 Tier and other classes, passengers will be able to see seat availability across all classes on a single screen, making it easier to compare options and book tickets.