To reduce uncertainty for waitlisted passengers, the Railway Board has suggested preparing the reservation chart eight hours before a train’s departure, according to officials from Indian Railways.“However, for trains departing before 1400 hours (2 p.m.), the chart will be prepared the previous day at 2100 hours (9 p.m.) itself,” a senior official from the Railway Ministry said.At present, reservation charts are typically prepared four hours before the scheduled departure.Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has approved the proposal and instructed the Railway Board to implement it in phases to ensure smooth execution without any disruptions.“This move will reduce uncertainties for passengers with waitlist tickets. The passengers will get the first update on waitlist status well in advance,” the official said. The official further noted that the move would especially help passengers coming from remote areas or suburban regions to board long-distance trains. “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 ticket is not confirmed,” the official added.Mr. Vaishnaw also reviewed the progress of reforms to revamp the Passenger Reservation System from the point of view of making the end-to-end travel experience passenger-centric. He emphasised that the ticketing system should be smart, transparent, accessible, and efficient. Officials said a modern Passenger Reservation System (PRS) is slated to be ready by December 2025.Mr. Vaishnaw reviewed the upgrading process of the PRS, which is being executed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).1.5 lakh tickets a minuteThe new upgraded PRS design is agile, flexible, and scalable to handle 10 times the current load. It will significantly enhance the ticket booking capacity. “The new 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,” the official added.The ticket enquiry capacity will rise from 4 lakh to over 40 lakh a minute. “The new PRS has a multilingual and user-friendly booking and enquiry interface. Users will be able to submit their choice of seat and see the fare calendar. It also has integrated facilities for Divyangjan, students, patients, etc.,” the official said.Indian Railways has simplified the authentication process for Tatkal bookings. Starting July 1, only verified users will be allowed to book Tatkal tickets through the IRCTC website and mobile app. Additionally, OTP-based authentication for Tatkal bookings will be introduced by the end of July 2025.Mr. Vaishnaw has directed officials to expand the authentication system. “The authentication should be done using Aadhaar or any other verifiable Government ID available in the user’s DigiLocker account,” he said.
