In a bid to improve the overall passenger experience, Indian Railways is introducing several enhancements to its ticketing system. These reforms, reviewed by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, are designed to make the booking process simpler, more efficient, and more secure. A notable change involves the timing of reservation chart preparation, with the aim of providing passengers with more timely information. The revised plan will see charts prepared eight hours before departure, with trains leaving before 2 PM having their charts ready on the previous day. This change will provide waitlisted passengers with more time to find alternative arrangements. Simultaneously, the Passenger Reservation System (PRS) is undergoing a major technical upgrade. The new system, implemented by CRIS, will be significantly faster and more capable, handling ten times the load of the current system. This will facilitate over 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute, and drastically increase ticket inquiry capacity. The upgraded PRS will include a multilingual interface and user-friendly features. For Tatkal bookings, enhanced security measures are being implemented. Starting July 1, 2025, users will need to authenticate themselves using Aadhaar or a valid government ID, in addition to OTP verification, to book tickets via the IRCTC website and app.
