In a long-overdue move, Indian Railways has revamped the user interface of the railway ticket booking website www.irctc.co.in
The new website adds several new features:
- Simplified travel planning by the integration of food ordering and retiring room booking in the ticket booking site and app.
- Artificial Intelligence-based predictive options during the ticket booking process for a better experience.
- Easily accessible refund status page
- Easier booking for regular trips
- Train search and selection merged into a single page to simplify the process
- More information on availability on a single page with far fewer clicks. Alternate dates can be checked on the same page.
- Confirmation probability now provided by default for all Waitlisted tickets.
- Payment page will also show journey details so that you can make sure your bookings are correct.
Indian Railways claims that the new website’s features will be superior to those found on other travel sites.
Speaking at the launch ceremony of the revamped www.irctc.co.in, Minister for Railways Piyush Goyal said that the new website will “enhance passenger convenience.” He also asked IRCTC to constantly keep improving on the website.
e-Ticketing services for booking of Indian Railway Tickets:
In 2014, the Next Generation E-ticketing (NGeT) system was launched to provide seamless e-ticketing services – higher booking loads and better user interface, through IRCTC. The upgraded e-ticketing website & App will provide the next level of services and experience to the rail users, said Indian Railways in a statement.
Best in Class features:
The e-ticketing website of IRCTC has more than 6 Crore active users. More than 8 lakh tickets are booked daily. 83% of the total tickets booked on Indian Railways are now booked through the online route.
The path forward
IRCTC & CRIS have been working to introduce ‘Smart Booking’ feature to book connecting trains on alternate routes between the pair of stations which do not have direct trains, claims IR.
