For travelers who buy train tickets from the IRCTC website, there’s great news. Indian Railways has launched the new, up-to-date version of their website.
At the moment, the website is available for testing purposes. Everybody can use it and give their feedback. According to the results of testing, additional upgrades will be added to the system. Now, let’s review the key characteristics of the new website which has been launched after nearly 24 years, and which will make purchasing train tickets much simpler.
As a brief reminder, the IRCTC website was launched in 2002. At the moment, it helps more than 1.45 million (14.5 lakhs) people per day to purchase tickets. With such a load, the website worked very slowly and even crashed sometimes. However, it is time to update the design and technologies of the system in order to provide the possibility of extremely fast ticket purchase.
The Ministry of Railways has designed this new website to be extremely simple and user-friendly, allowing the general public to book travel tickets with ease. It is important to understand how the website works and what its key features are.
Notably, the old website displayed various advertisements, pop-ups, and flashing elements that caused distractions. The new website features a clean, uncluttered design, ensuring you see only the information necessary for booking a ticket.
You might recall that the most frustrating part of booking a ticket was repeatedly entering CAPTCHA codes; a single incorrect entry could result in missing out on the booking. This new version significantly mitigates this issue-a change that is nothing short of a boon for those booking Tatkal tickets.
Previously, one had to click on different buttons repeatedly to view seat availability for Sleeper (SL), Third AC (3A), or Second AC (2A) classes. Now, the new website displays seat availability for all classes simultaneously on a single screen, making it easier to select the right option.
Earlier, the booking process involved navigating through multiple steps and screens, resulting in wasted time. These steps have been streamlined in the new website, allowing you to book tickets much faster and with fewer clicks.
Another major highlight of this update is that you no longer need to manually enter the names, ages, and genders of family members or friends every time you book tickets for them; the new website allows you to easily reuse previously saved information.
Crucially, the Railways is not merely revamping the website's interface but also upgrading the underlying system. The new website will soon be integrated with a new Passenger Reservation System (PRS). This ensures that the site will not hang or crash even when millions of users access it simultaneously during peak periods like festivals or Tatkal booking windows.
You can check out the new beta website directly at https://www.irctc.co.in/eticket/. Additionally, a link to this new beta version is available on the homepage of the current IRCTC website.
Ultimately, the primary objective of this update is to save time for railway passengers and eliminate the stress associated with the booking process. If the beta testing proves successful, this new, sleek, and superfast IRCTC portal will be permanently rolled out to everyone in the coming weeks.
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