Indian Railways to Prep First Chart 8 Hours Early, Complete Passenger Reservation System Overhaul by Dec 2025

New Delhi: Indian Railways is bringing major changes to its ticket reservation system, aiming to enhance passenger convenience and system efficiency. By December 2025, a new Passenger Reservation System (PRS) will be fully implemented, which includes:

Final train charts will be prepared 8 hours before departure.

This will help waitlisted passengers better understand their chances of confirmation.

The new system will be multilingual, user-friendly, and integrated with a real-time tracking interface.

System Efficiency Boost:

Once fully functional, the system will handle 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute, a massive improvement from the current 35,000 per minute capacity — a 5x increase.

Ticket inquiry system will also be upgraded to handle 40 lakh queries per minute, up from 4 lakh.

Special emphasis will be on smart ticketing and providing real-time information to millions of passengers.

Upcoming Features & Changes:

For trains departing the next day, the final passenger chart will be available by 9 PM on the previous day.

The system will be operated through the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS).

Passengers will be able to choose preferred seats, check fare details, and avail facilities for differently-abled persons, students, and patients.

Tatkal Ticket Reforms:

From July 1, new rules for Tatkal bookings are in effect:

Only verified users (with Aadhaar linking) will be allowed to book Tatkal tickets via the IRCTC website and mobile app.

From end of July 2025, all bookings will require OTP-based Aadhaar verification.

Identity verification with Aadhaar will be mandatory for Tatkal quota bookings.

Long-Term Goals:

Indian Railways targets serving 7.57 billion passengers in the 2025–26 financial year, up from 7.27 billion in 2024–25.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is closely monitoring these upgrades, stressing the need for a smart, easy, efficient, and secure ticketing experience.

This comprehensive overhaul of the ticket reservation system is aimed at ensuring hassle-free, comfortable, and transparent travel for passengers across India.