Indian Railways to Begin Shift to Upgraded Reservation System from August

New Delhi: The Central government on Thursday announced that Indian Railways will begin transitioning trains to an upgraded passenger reservation system from August. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has directed officials to ensure that the migration takes place smoothly without causing inconvenience to passengers.

The announcement was made during a review meeting held at Rail Bhawan, where the Railway Minister assessed preparations for replacing the existing 40-year-old reservation system with a modern, technology-driven platform.

According to the Ministry of Railways, the current reservation system was introduced in 1986 and has undergone several minor upgrades over the years. However, the system is now being completely revamped with enhanced capacity and advanced technological features to meet the increasing demand from passengers.

The ministry said Indian Railways has consistently moved towards digital transformation since the launch of internet-based ticket booking services in 2002. At present, nearly 88 per cent of railway ticket bookings are done online.

A major contributor to this digital expansion has been the RailOne mobile application, launched in July last year. The app has already crossed 3.5 crore downloads and offers services such as ticket booking, cancellation, refunds, live train tracking, platform and coach details, complaint resolution through Rail Madad, and onboard food delivery at seats.

One of the key features of the app is its AI-based prediction system, which estimates the chances of waitlisted tickets getting confirmed. Railway officials said the accuracy of this feature has improved from 53 per cent to 94 per cent since its introduction earlier this year.

Currently, around 9.29 lakh tickets, including reserved and unreserved categories, are booked daily through the platform.

The government also reiterated that Indian Railways continues to provide significant subsidies on passenger travel. During the financial year 2024-25, passenger subsidies amounted to Rs 60,239 crore, translating into an average fare subsidy of nearly 43 per cent for travellers.

With inputs from IANS