IRCTC Site Revamp To Cut Captchas, Booking Steps

Hyderabad: Indian Railways will launch the beta version of the revamped IRCTC website on Friday and officials will seek feedback from users before the full rollout. The current website has been flooded with complaints about its lack of user friendliness.

The beta version brings four important changes: Removal of unnecessary captchas, pop-ups and graphics; visibility of seat availability between classes; faster checkout with fewer booking steps; and easier repeat booking thanks to saved passenger details.

Officials of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and the Center for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) recently met students of the National Institute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur, Malaviya, who were reviewing the beta version on July 10. The interaction follows previous feedback from students highlighting issues with the current platform.

Officials said that the updated website is integrated with the passenger reservation system, which is also being renewed in parallel. Once the integration is completed, the new portal is expected to become fully functional in the coming months.

The passenger reservation system, which has been in use for nearly four decades and powers train booking apps, has been upgraded while remaining operational, they added. “The upgrade requires extensive work while keeping the system operational without interruption. The new passenger reservation system will be operational soon.”

Officials said efforts are ongoing to stop bot activities related to Tatkal bookings. “We have taken various measures to block bots in tatkal bookings. Although there has been some improvement, this remains an ongoing challenge and further efforts are needed. We will continue to strengthen measures against such abuses.”

They also noted that the RailOne app has crossed four crore downloads and has emerged as a key platform for rail services.