The Ministry of Railways has made the decision to prepare reservation charts for long-distance trains eight hours prior to departure, as opposed to the current four hours, in order to assist passengers traveling from remote areas in better planning their journeys. This decision was reached during a recent review meeting led by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, as stated in a release from the ministry. Under the guidance of Vaishnaw, officials are now working to ensure that the reservation chart is prepared eight hours ahead of the train’s departure instead of the existing four hours, the statement indicated. “This change will benefit passengers traveling from remote areas or suburbs of major cities who need to catch long-distance trains. It will also provide additional time for making alternative arrangements in the event that the waitlist is not confirmed,” the ministry noted.
“The newly upgraded Passenger Reservation System (PRS) will facilitate over 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute. This represents an increase of approximately five times from the current capacity of 32,000 tickets per minute in the existing PRS,” it further added.The ministry also mentioned that the new PRS features a multilingual and user-friendly interface for booking and inquiries. In the updated PRS, users will have the ability to specify their seat preferences and view the fare calendar. Additionally, it includes integrated facilities for Divyangjan, students, and patients, according to officials. Starting from July 1, 2025, Indian Railways will permit only authenticated users to book Tatkal tickets via the IRCTC website and its mobile application,” the ministry stated.It emphasized that OTP-based authentication will be implemented for Tatkal bookings starting at the end of July.The minister has directed officials to expand the authentication process for Tatkal bookings.”Authentication should be conducted using Aadhaar or any other verifiable government ID that is accessible in the user’s DigiLocker account,” the statement specified. According to the ministry, these initiatives demonstrate the Railways’ ongoing commitment to modernizing its systems and enhancing their accessibility for citizens.
