Railways to finalise reservation charts eight hours ahead of departure

New Delhi: The Ministry of Railways has announced a series of upgrades aimed at improving the travel experience and booking efficiency for passengers. One key change is the decision to prepare reservation charts for long-distance trains eight hours prior to departure, instead of the current four-hour window. This adjustment, the ministry stated, is intended to help passengers from remote locations plan their journeys more effectively.

The move was decided during a recent review meeting chaired by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw. "Under Vaishnaw's guidance, officials are working to prepare the reservation chart eight hours before the train's departure instead of the current four hours," the statement read.

"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 waitlist is not confirmed," the ministry said.

Alongside changes to the reservation process, a new and improved Passenger Reservation System (PRS) is being introduced. "The new upgraded Passenger Reservation System (PRS) will allow over 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute. This will be an increase of roughly five times from 32,000 tickets per minute in the current PRS," it added.

The new PRS will feature a multilingual, user-friendly interface for both booking and enquiries. Passengers will be able to select their preferred seats and view a fare calendar. The system also incorporates dedicated facilities for Divyangjan, students, and patients.

To enhance security and user verification, "Indian Railways will allow only authenticated users to book Tatkal tickets on the IRCTC website and its mobile app beginning 1st July, 2025," the ministry said.

It also noted that "OTP-based authentication will be done for Tatkal bookings from the end of July." Railway Minister Vaishnaw has directed officials to expand the authentication process. "The authentication should be done using Aadhaar or any other verifiable government ID available in the user's DigiLocker account," the statement said.

These developments, the ministry underscored, signal Indian Railways’ continued commitment to system modernisation and making services more accessible and passenger-friendly.

(inputs from PTI)