Passengers can now view train charts and vacant berths in trains on the internet on the railway online reservation website www.irctc.co.in. This will provide information on occupancy and berth availability for last minute passengers.
Those who wish to obtain a confirmed reservation at the last moment can view information of train occupancy and vacant berths after chart preparation. Complete information of vacant berths from train source as well as intermediate locations will be available to the user.
This will help a prospective passenger to book tickets online (both internet and mobile) or through the TTE.
Union Railway and Coal Minister Piyush Goyal said that the step would introduce transparency, add to passenger comfort besides ending the practice of searching for a TTE in a moving train.
This new feature in ticketing system is dynamic which will keep upgrading itself as the train proceeds towards for the destination and updates passengers on berth availability on a real time basis.
In 20 days, all Rajdhani and Shatabdi train tickets can be booked even after second charts have been prepared according to Girish Pillai, Member –Traffic, Railway Board.
Passengers can see berth availability even after the second chart is prepared. The first chart is prepared four hours prior to departure and the second char, 30 minutes before departure of a train. The second chart includes cancellations and current reservation done after the first chart preparation.
Passengers can view a graphical representation of the train coaches and berth-wise accommodation status on www.irctc.co.in website. The system displays coach layout of nine classes used in reserved trains on Indian Railways incorporating more than 120 different coach layouts.
How to use
A new option to view charts and vacancy will be available on the home page of the IRCTC website.
On clicking, the site would ask for journey details such as train number, journey date and boarding station. On entering them, the passenger will be able to see class-wise and coach-wise number of vacant berths.
Further, the passenger may click on a specific coach to see the coach layout along with berth-wise accommodation status such as occupied for full journey, occupied for part journey and vacant for full journey.
PoS machines
Goyal announced that PoS machines will be made available to all TTEs and catering staff onboard.
He said that IRCTC will add another 30 kitchen bases with cameras for public viewing. Biodegradable packing of food prepared in these kitchen bases is also being planned so the quality of food is not lost during the transit, he added.
