New IRCTC website to launch by July 15
What's the story
Indian Railways is gearing up to launch a new and improved Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website by July 15. The announcement was made by Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw during an interaction with students in Rajasthan. The decision comes after students raised concerns about the difficulties they faced while booking train tickets on the current platform, including CAPTCHA verification issues.
User feedback
Revamped platform to enhance user experience
During his interaction, Vaishnaw was informed by a student about the inconvenience caused by CAPTCHA verification during ticket booking. The minister then asked railway officials if they could launch a revamped platform within 30 days. He later announced that the new IRCTC website would be launched by July 15. Though specific features of the upgraded portal are yet to be revealed, it aims to enhance the digital ticket-booking experience for passengers.
Service enhancement
Addressing user concerns and feedback
The upgrade of the IRCTC website comes as more people are looking for faster and smoother online booking services, especially during peak times like Tatkal bookings and festival travel seasons. Users have often complained about issues like website slowdowns and CAPTCHA-related problems during high traffic periods. The minister's announcement indicates that passenger feedback is being taken into account while improving digital railway services.
System upgrade
Upgrade of passenger reservation system (PRS)
Separately, the Ministry of Railways has also announced plans to upgrade its nearly 40-year-old passenger reservation system (PRS) with a modernized platform from August. The new PRS system is expected to allow over 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute, an increase of roughly five times from the current capacity of 32,000 tickets per minute. It will also improve ticket enquiry capacity tenfold, from four lakh to over 40 lakh per enquiry in a minute.