New Delhi:

Thousands were unable to book railway tickets this morning due to a glitch in the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website and mobile application. The IRCTC mobile app was down for the second time in a month.

A major outage was reported when users were trying to book Tatkal (emergency) tickets at 10 am. They reportedly received a message that read “unable to perform action due to maintenance activity” when they were attempting to access the site.

Many users expressed their frustration on social media.

“Tatkal booking during the holiday season is a nightmare. Servers crash right when bookings open. This is the worst website I’ve ever used. Why hasn’t this been fixed despite repeated complaints?,” a user wrote on X (formerly Twitter). attaching a screenshot of the website.

“It is 10:11am … still IRCTC is not opening…. IRCTC should be enquired and checked… definitely scams are happening. By the time it opens all the tickets are gone…,” another user wrote with the screenshots of site.

“IRCTC server down during Tatkal booking timings. IRCTC Rail connect & IRCTC Next Generation eTicketing System Can’t work during Tatkal booking hours,” a user wrote.

“Extremely disappointed with the IRCTC website. It crashes or slows down almost every time, especially during Tatkal booking hours! Millions of users rely on it, yet the experience remains frustrating. @AshwiniVaishnaw @RailMinIndia, please address this urgently! #IRCTC,” fourth user wrote.

Indian Railways is getting ready to launch a single “super app” that would offer travellers a variety of necessary services on one easy-to-use platform. The new application will serve as an umbrella platform, bringing together all railway services in one place. It will let users purchase platform passes, book tickets, and track train timetables, among other features, which should make travelling easier.

With the goal of integrating a variety of services that were previously dispersed across several applications, the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) is working with IRCTC’s current infrastructure to construct the app. IRCTC will remain the main interface via which passengers access these services in spite of this integration. The super app’s development is still under progress.

Also Read | IIT Delhi And Centre For Railway Information Systems Partner To Transform Indian Railways

Currently, railway passengers rely on separate platforms for various needs, such as IRCTC Rail Connect for ticketing, IRCTC eCatering Food on Track for meal orders, Rail Madad for feedback, UTS for unreserved tickets, and the National Train Enquiry System for real-time train information. The new super app seeks to centralise these services, creating a streamlined and user-friendly experience for millions of railway users.

Meanwhile, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) to advance railway infrastructure, safety, and operational efficiency across India.

Under this MoU, IIT Delhi researchers will engage in a series of R&D projects aimed at enhancing security, safety, scheduling, intermodal connectivity, and revenue optimisation for Indian Railways. Faculty members from the Departments of Mechanical Engineering, Computer Science, and Management Studies will collaborate on these initiatives, combining interdisciplinary expertise to address key challenges. This partnership is expected to make Indian Railways a safer, more efficient, and technologically advanced organisation.

By combining groundbreaking research with practical application, the partnership aims to address some of the most pressing challenges in Indian Railways.

Indian Railways has introduced a major change in its ticketing rule, reducing the advance reservation period (ARP) from the current 120 days to 60 days. The new rules came into effect from Friday (November 1). The railways had released a circular on October 16, informing passengers about the rules change. This change comes into effect just before winter sets in and the festive season. The rationale given for the major change is to promote genuine passengers and minimise rising “no-show trend”.

“It was being noticed that about 21 per cent of reservations done for 61 to 120 day periods were getting cancelled. Further, 5 per cent of passengers were neither cancelling their tickets nor were they undertaking the journey. This No Show trend was also one of the factors behind the decision, which will help Indian Railways in better planning of special trains during peak seasons,” the Press Information Bureau (PIB) said in a release.

The rule change means passengers won’t be able to book tickets three months (or more) in advance. However, those who have already booked their tickets will not be affected.

“Based on the emerging reservation trends & passenger’s uncertainty of travel, Indian Railways keeps changing their ARP policy,” the PIB release further said.

The government also informed that the 365-day ARP limit for foreign tourists remains unchanged.

The advance reservation period was last revised in 2015. Till 1998, this period was as low as 30 days.

The ticketing for train journey is handled by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC). The public sector enterprise was established in 1999 by the Government of India and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Railways. As of December 2023, IRCTC has 66 million registered users and an average of 7.31 lakh tickets booked per day

IRCTC also manages catering services at stations, on trains and other locations.

In a shocking incident, a live snake was discovered in an AC coach of the Vasco-da-Gama Weekly Express travelling from Jharkhand to Goa on October 21. Several passengers spotted the snake slithering near the curtains of a lower berth in an AC 2-tier coach and took videos of it. Ankit Kumar Sinha, whose parents were travelling in the affected coach (A2 31, 33), took to social media platform X to report the incident and urge Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for urgent intervention. The videos shared by Mr Sinha and other passengers show the snake moving around the curtains, causing panic and concern among travellers.

“Snake found in Train -17322 (Jasidih to Vasco De Gama) on berth on date of 21st Oct This complaint is on behalf of my parents who are travelling in AC 2 Tier -(A2 31, 33). Please take immediate action. I have attached Videos for reference,” he wrote. In a second tweet, he tagged Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and added, “Looking at the seriousness of the situation, your immediate attention is required.”

Watch the videos here:

Hi @IRCTCofficial@RailMinIndia Snake found in Train -17322 (Jasidih to Vasco De Gama) on berth on date of 21st Oct This complain is on behalf of my parents who are travelling in AC 2 Tier -(A2 31 , 33). Please take immediate action

I have attached Videos for reference. pic.twitter.com/h4Vbro8ZnN

— Ankit Kumar Sinha (@ankitkumar0168) October 21, 2024

Fortunately, the snake was caught and removed from the train with the help of IRCTC staff, who responded promptly to the situation. A video showed IRCTC staff and a passenger working together to capture the snake using a bedsheet, but the reptile’s fate remains unknown.

Meanwhile, the Railway Seva team responded to the tweet and escalated the matter to relevant officials for immediate resolution.

”Please share your PNR/UTS number and mobile no. preferably via DM to enable us to take immediate action. You may also raise your concern directly on http://railmadad.indianrailways.gov.in or dial 139 for speedy redressal,” Railway Seva wrote.

Ranchi’s divisional railway manager also replied: “Your complaint has been acknowledged, and the appropriate authority has been informed.”

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has rubbished rumours regarding e-ticket booking restrictions. In a statement, IRCTC clarified that claims suggesting passengers with different surnames cannot book tickets together were entirely “false and misleading.”

According to IRCTC, tickets can be booked on personal user IDs for friends, family, and relatives without surname-related constraints. They clarified that bookings are conducted according to Railway Board Guidelines, which are publicly accessible.

The IRCTC said that users can book tickets for up to 12 persons per month. If the booking is done by Aadhaar-authenticated users and at least one passenger on the ticket is also Aadhaar-authenticated, this limit extends to 24 tickets.

Users are also warned not to use their user IDs for commercial purposes. This is strictly prohibited under Section 143 of the Railways Act, 1989, and can lead to legal consequences. Only authorised agents are permitted to book tickets for commercial use.

The news in circulation on social media about restriction in booking of e-tickets due to different surname is false and misleading. pic.twitter.com/xu3Q7uEWbX

— IRCTC (@IRCTCofficial) June 25, 2024

This clarification came amid rumours that booking train tickets for friends or relatives with different surnames could lead to jail time or hefty fines under Section 143.

The alleged “new rules” claimed one could book tickets only for those with blood relations or the same surname using a personal ID, with penalties of up to 3 years in jail or ₹10,000 as fine for non-compliance. However, these claims have been thoroughly debunked.

In reality, Section 143 of the Indian Railways Act targets unauthorised ticketing businesses, not personal bookings. Indian Railways has not issued any such order restricting ticket bookings.