The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched the beta version of its new ticket booking website for users across India. The new portal, which went live at 9 pm on July 15, aims to make railway ticket booking faster and easier, especially during the busy Tatkal booking hours. The old IRCTC website often drew complaints from users who said it became slow or unresponsive during peak hours. Many passengers faced issues such as pages freezing, payment failures and unsuccessful Tatkal bookings despite seats being available.
What has changed?
Faster and smoother booking: The earlier website could process around 32,000 ticket bookings per minute. During Tatkal booking, users often experienced delays, payment failures and session timeouts, causing them to lose confirmed tickets. The new beta website has a simpler booking process with fewer interruptions, making the experience smoother.
Fewer interruptions: IRCTC has removed many unnecessary interruptions from the booking process. Users will see fewer CAPTCHAs, pop-ups and distracting graphics, helping them complete bookings more quickly. This is expected to be particularly useful during Tatkal booking, where every second matters.
One of the biggest improvements is the way seat availability is displayed. Earlier, users had to check each travel class separately, such as Sleeper, AC 3 Tier and AC 2 Tier. The new website shows seat availability for all classes on a single screen, saving time and reducing repeated searches.
The booking process now requires fewer clicks. Frequent travellers can also save passenger details, allowing them to book tickets faster without entering the same information every time.
What features are coming next?
The beta version is only the first step, and IRCTC has said several new features will be added when the full version of the website is rolled out. Passengers will be able to choose their preferred berth or seat while booking, making it easier to select lower, upper or side berths based on availability.
The new website will also support all 22 scheduled Indian languages, making it more accessible to users across the country. With these upcoming features, IRCTC aims to make railway ticket booking faster, simpler and more convenient, while addressing many of the long-standing issues faced by passengers, especially during the rush for Tatkal tickets.