Among the series of measures proposed to ease ticket booking experience and passenger movement, the Indian Railways is mulling to prepare reservation charts eight hours before the departure.
Under this, for trains departing before 14:00 hours, the chart will be prepared the previous day at 21:00 hours.
Currently, the reservation chart is prepared four hours before the departure of the train, which leads to uncertainty for passengers with waitlist tickets.
The passengers will get the first update on waitlist status well in advance. It will benefit passengers travelling from remote locations or suburbs of major cities for catching long distance trains. It will also provide more time to make alternative arrangements in case the wait list is not confirmed.
Meanwhile, Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reviewed the upgradation of the passenger reservation system on Sunday. The project has been executed for the last few months by CRIS.
Under the upgraded PRS, only the authenticated users will be able to book Tatkal tickets on IRCTC website, beginning July 1, 2025.
Further, Tatkal ticket will require OTP-based authentication using Adhaar of any other government verified documents or government id, available at DigiLocker account stated by the railways.
Upgraded PRS system
{{/usCountry}}Further, Tatkal ticket will require OTP-based authentication using Adhaar of any other government verified documents or government id, available at DigiLocker account stated by the railways.
Upgraded PRS system
{{/usCountry}}The upgraded PRS (Passenger Reservation System) is designed to be agile, flexible, and scalable, capable of handling ten times the current load. It will significantly boost ticket booking capacity, enabling over 1.5 lakh bookings per minute, an almost fivefold increase from the existing 32,000 tickets per minute.
The new system features a multilingual, user-friendly interface for both booking and enquiries. Users will be able to specify their seat preferences and view a fare calendar. Additionally, the PRS now includes integrated support for Divyangjan, students, patients, and other special user categories
(With ANI inputs)