Major Overhaul of Indian Railways Ticketing System: Enhanced Efficiency and User Experience

Indian Railways is implementing comprehensive reforms to revolutionize its ticketing system, focusing on passenger convenience. The Railway Ministry is introducing several initiatives to enhance the entire journey experience. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav has reviewed these changes, which are designed to make the system smarter, more transparent, and more efficient. A key improvement involves revising the timing of reservation chart preparation. The Railway Board has proposed preparing reservation charts eight hours before departure, a shift from the current four-hour window. For trains leaving before 2 PM, charts will be prepared the previous night. This change aims to provide more timely information to waitlisted passengers, allowing them to plan their travel more effectively. In addition to this, the Passenger Reservation System (PRS) is being upgraded to increase speed and capacity. The new system, currently being implemented by CRIS, will be ten times more powerful than the current system, allowing for over 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute and significantly increasing the ticket inquiry capacity. The system will also feature a multilingual and user-friendly interface. Furthermore, from July 1, 2025, Tatkal bookings will require enhanced authentication, including OTP verification.