Indian Railways is upgrading its passenger reservation system, increasing ticket booking capacity from 32,000 to 1.5 lakh tickets per minute. The new cloud-based system, set to launch by July 15, will also integrate AI tools for waitlist prediction.
The upgrade to the IRCTC system is expected to significantly enhance the user experience for millions of Indian rail passengers by improving booking speed, reliability, and waitlist prediction accuracy, especially during high-demand periods.
Indian Railways is set to significantly upgrade its passenger reservation system, increasing ticket booking capacity from 32,000 to 1.5 lakh tickets per minute. This digital overhaul aims to improve efficiency and reduce server failures during peak booking hours.
Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced that a new, improved IRCTC website will be launched by July 15. The decision followed student complaints about inconveniences faced while booking tickets, including a cumbersome CAPTCHA process and rapid ticket exhaustion.
MGFA Syed Jafar Ali, Member of the Zonal Railway Users' Consultative Committee (ZRUCC), Southern Railway, welcomed the upgrade, stating it will significantly improve ticket booking efficiency and reduce server failures. He noted that the Indian Railways is replacing its 40-year-old Passenger Reservation System (PRS) with a modern cloud-based system.
The upgraded infrastructure, to be rolled out in phases from August, will also integrate Artificial Intelligence-based tools to offer waitlist prediction accuracy of up to 94 percent, ensuring a smoother and more reliable ticket booking experience.