IRCTC website, app down ahead of festive travel season
What's the story
India's leading railway ticketing platform, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), is facing a major outage. The issue has left thousands of users unable to book train tickets online, just ahead of the busy Diwali and Chhath Puja travel seasons. The disruption has been reported on both the IRCTC website and its mobile app.
Cause
Technical glitches
The IRCTC outage has been attributed to technical glitches, according to officials from the organization. They said their teams are working tirelessly to restore normal service as quickly as possible. The disruption comes at a particularly busy time, with many people trying to book tickets through Tatkal or immediate quota services.
User impact
Frustrated users take to social media
As the IRCTC website and app remain down, over 5,000 users have reported issues trying to book tickets. The platform is inaccessible when opened, leaving many travelers unable to secure their journeys during this peak holiday period. On social media, frustrated users shared screenshots of "site down" or "error" messages, with some complaining that by the time the system comes back online, tickets for several popular trains would already be sold out.
Error message
Error message on website
The error message on the IRCTC website reads, "Server temporarily unable due to service requests." The outage has drawn criticism from many who have pointed out that this isn't the first time IRCTC has faced such issues during peak booking periods. Passengers affected by this outage have been advised to explore alternative options such as visiting physical reservation counters, using authorized travel agents, or keeping an eye on IRCTC's announcements for system recovery updates.