Railways to revamp IRCTC website, make it more passenger-friendly

To give better experience to passengers in booking online tickets, the Indian Railways is revamping the website of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

"Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be used to provide a better ticket booking experience to passengers. The AI will predict the booking pattern for passengers and suggest the best possible combination of trains available," Railway Board Chairman V K Yadav said here.

"With 80 per cent of railway passeners booking tickets online, the railways is working on revamping the IRCTC website to make it more passenger-friendly, with easy filters to search trains, availbility of seats in all trains, fare display and waiting list confirmation probability. The IRCTC website will also be integrated with hotel and meal booking," he said.

As part of the national transporter's efforts to introduce contactless ticketing system, it is also working on issuing QTcode-enabled tickets, both through online booked and physical counters.

A pilot of contactless ticket-checking on the line of airport-like check in was already started at Prayagraj Junction of North Central Railway, he said.

The railways also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) for satellite tracking of trains.

This is to capture real-time data relating to the speed and location of the trains and arrival and departure. This will also improve the efficiency in train operation and helps passengers to get to know the movement of trains on a real-time basis, he added.