1.5 lakh bookings per minute from December; train reservation chart eight hours before departure; new reforms in Indian Railways

NEW DELHI: The Railways has decided to publish the reservation chart for trains eight hours in advance. This is to avoid the uncertainty faced by passengers and to give them time to prepare. This will also allow those who have not received a confirmed reservation from the waiting list to seek alternative travel options. The chart is currently prepared four hours in advance. The reservation chart for the train that is scheduled to depart at 2 pm will be prepared by 9 pm the previous day. The Railways has not announced the date of this change.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has announced that the system will be upgraded to enable simultaneous booking of more than 1.5 lakh tickets per minute from December. The current capacity is 32,000 tickets per minute. The updated railway system can also handle 40 lakh queries per minute. It is currently four lakh. A user-friendly interface supporting multiple languages ​​will also be introduced for bookings and queries. It will make it easier for passengers to choose their preferred seats and know about fares.

Document verification for tatkal booking

From July 1, tatkal tickets can be booked only using Aadhaar or valid government IDs uploaded in DigiLocker accounts. This is applicable to those booking tickets through the IRCTC website and mobile app. OTP-based tatkal booking will also be available from the end of July.