<p>Railway Minister Pawan Bansal on Tuesday promised to introduce GenNext e-ticketing system by the year-end, which would make online booking of rail tickets easier and faster.<br /><br /></p>.<p>He noted that the heavy traffic on the website of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and the consequent congestion often slowed down the server and made it difficult for passengers to book tickets online.<br /><br />Bansal promised to “bring about a paradigm shift in internet rail ticketing by significantly improving the end user experience in respect of ease of use, response time as well as capacity.”<br /><br />Presenting the rail budget for 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Railways Minister said the new e-ticketing system would be able to support 7,200 tickets per minute. <br /><br />The current system allowed only 2,000 tickets per minute. The new system would support 120,000 simultaneous users at any point in time against the present capacity of 40,000 users with capability to easily scale up as demand increases in future.<br /><br />The Ministry of Railways in December 2012 informed the Rajya Sabha that the IRCTC had received about 20-25 written complaints from users everyday during 2011-12 financial year about congestion on its website.<br /><br />The congestion on the IRCTC website is attributed to the sudden surge in online traffic, particularly after booking of Tatkal tickets starts at 10 am everyday for the next day’s trains.<br /><br />The Railways Minister on Tuesday said the new system would have advanced fraud control and the security management tools to ensure fairness and transparency in disbursal of tickets.<br /><br />He also promised to extend the facility of internet ticketing from 12:30 am to 11:30 pm apart from making e-ticketing possible through mobile phones.<br /><br />SMS alert<br /><br />Taking note of the “overwhelming response” to the Indian Railways website and Integrated Train Enquiry Service provided through “139” telephone number, Bansal said a project of the SMS Alerts to passengers providing updates on reservation status would be rolled out shortly.<br /><br />The Ministry of Railways is also contemplating covering more trains under a “real time information system”, which enables rail-users to access information through nominated websites and mobile phones.<br /><br />Bansal also said he would look forward to the use of Aadhar database by the Indian Railways. <br /><br />He already had a meeting with Unique Identification Authority of India chief Nandan Nilekeni. <br /><br />“The database generated, can be extensively and efficiently used by railways, not only to render more user friendly services such as booking of tickets, validation of genuine passengers with GPS enabled handheld gadgets in trains, but also to provide a better interface with its employees in regard to their salaries, pension and allowances,” he added.<br /><br />Snippets<br /><br />On time<br />Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal arrived at the Lok Sabha along with Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi about 20 minutes before his maiden Rail Budget presentation.<br /><br />Thumbs up<br />Bansal was greeted by Congress MPs while Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh was seen giving him a thumbs up.<br /><br />Tradition alive<br />While presenting the Rail Budget, Bansal maintained the tradition of reading couplets, followed by his predecessors in the ministry. The Opposition remained silent for the first 60 minutes of Bansal’s 75-minute speech. Pandemonium began after Bansal announced setting up of new rail-based factories. His family members, including wife Madhu, watched him presenting the Budget from the Speaker’s gallery. <br /><br />Lalu’s catnap<br />While Bansal was presenting the Rail Budget, former railway minister Lalu Prasad was seen taking a catnap. Two former railway ministers of the Trinamool Congress, Dinesh Trivedi and Mukul Roy, were not present at the time of the presentation. <br /><br />Show of gratitude<br />In his opening remarks, Bansal expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi for giving him an opportunity to present the Budget. He also had a few words for former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Bansal said Gandhi had introduced him to the portals of “this highest temple of Indian democracy.”<br /><br />Uproar<br />Following an uproar over his maiden Rail Budget, Bansal wants to pause, but Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh prodded him to continue with the presentation. Finding Opposition members unrelenting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath and Finance Minister P Chidambaram suggested Bansal to mention the important points and conclude fast. Amid the din, Gandhi was seen asking the agitating members to get back to their seats and listen to Bansal.<br /></p>
<p>Railway Minister Pawan Bansal on Tuesday promised to introduce GenNext e-ticketing system by the year-end, which would make online booking of rail tickets easier and faster.<br /><br /></p>.<p>He noted that the heavy traffic on the website of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and the consequent congestion often slowed down the server and made it difficult for passengers to book tickets online.<br /><br />Bansal promised to “bring about a paradigm shift in internet rail ticketing by significantly improving the end user experience in respect of ease of use, response time as well as capacity.”<br /><br />Presenting the rail budget for 2013-14 in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, Railways Minister said the new e-ticketing system would be able to support 7,200 tickets per minute. <br /><br />The current system allowed only 2,000 tickets per minute. The new system would support 120,000 simultaneous users at any point in time against the present capacity of 40,000 users with capability to easily scale up as demand increases in future.<br /><br />The Ministry of Railways in December 2012 informed the Rajya Sabha that the IRCTC had received about 20-25 written complaints from users everyday during 2011-12 financial year about congestion on its website.<br /><br />The congestion on the IRCTC website is attributed to the sudden surge in online traffic, particularly after booking of Tatkal tickets starts at 10 am everyday for the next day’s trains.<br /><br />The Railways Minister on Tuesday said the new system would have advanced fraud control and the security management tools to ensure fairness and transparency in disbursal of tickets.<br /><br />He also promised to extend the facility of internet ticketing from 12:30 am to 11:30 pm apart from making e-ticketing possible through mobile phones.<br /><br />SMS alert<br /><br />Taking note of the “overwhelming response” to the Indian Railways website and Integrated Train Enquiry Service provided through “139” telephone number, Bansal said a project of the SMS Alerts to passengers providing updates on reservation status would be rolled out shortly.<br /><br />The Ministry of Railways is also contemplating covering more trains under a “real time information system”, which enables rail-users to access information through nominated websites and mobile phones.<br /><br />Bansal also said he would look forward to the use of Aadhar database by the Indian Railways. <br /><br />He already had a meeting with Unique Identification Authority of India chief Nandan Nilekeni. <br /><br />“The database generated, can be extensively and efficiently used by railways, not only to render more user friendly services such as booking of tickets, validation of genuine passengers with GPS enabled handheld gadgets in trains, but also to provide a better interface with its employees in regard to their salaries, pension and allowances,” he added.<br /><br />Snippets<br /><br />On time<br />Railway Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal arrived at the Lok Sabha along with Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi about 20 minutes before his maiden Rail Budget presentation.<br /><br />Thumbs up<br />Bansal was greeted by Congress MPs while Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh was seen giving him a thumbs up.<br /><br />Tradition alive<br />While presenting the Rail Budget, Bansal maintained the tradition of reading couplets, followed by his predecessors in the ministry. The Opposition remained silent for the first 60 minutes of Bansal’s 75-minute speech. Pandemonium began after Bansal announced setting up of new rail-based factories. His family members, including wife Madhu, watched him presenting the Budget from the Speaker’s gallery. <br /><br />Lalu’s catnap<br />While Bansal was presenting the Rail Budget, former railway minister Lalu Prasad was seen taking a catnap. Two former railway ministers of the Trinamool Congress, Dinesh Trivedi and Mukul Roy, were not present at the time of the presentation. <br /><br />Show of gratitude<br />In his opening remarks, Bansal expressed his gratitude to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi for giving him an opportunity to present the Budget. He also had a few words for former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. Bansal said Gandhi had introduced him to the portals of “this highest temple of Indian democracy.”<br /><br />Uproar<br />Following an uproar over his maiden Rail Budget, Bansal wants to pause, but Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh prodded him to continue with the presentation. Finding Opposition members unrelenting, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kamal Nath and Finance Minister P Chidambaram suggested Bansal to mention the important points and conclude fast. Amid the din, Gandhi was seen asking the agitating members to get back to their seats and listen to Bansal.<br /></p>
