Indian Railway’s Reservation Counters Move Towards Redundancy: 65 Per Cent Of Reserved Tickets Now Booked Online

More than 65 per cent of reserved train tickets are being booked online, reports The New Indian Express.

Only less than 35 per cent of reserved tickets were booked at ticket counters of the Indian Railways. The spike in online ticket booking was revealed in a railway board order dated 12 December.

“More than 65 per cent of reservations are done through the internet, which has resulted in a reduction in the requirement of ECRC staff, ” the board order said.

Reserving tickets through IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) portal was introduced in 2005 in New Delhi for Kalka Shatabdi Express and later extended to all trains.

Initially, only 50 per cent of the total tickets were made available for online booking while the rest had to booked at reservation counters. However, in late 2009 all train tickets were thrown open for online reservations.

Following the upgrade of the IRCTC portal and removal of restrictions in through mobile app, the number of passengers opting for online booking has increased multiple times in the past 13 years says official reports.

“Tatkal ticket booking through mobile app was not allowed for sleeper class, before April 2017. Payment options such as E-wallet were also restricted between 10 am, and 10.30 am. After the restrictions got lifted, passengers were able to book tatkal tickets in less than 40 seconds, which ultimately reduced the chances of getting confirmed berths for passengers who book the paper tickets at counters. Thus, many had to migrate to online for tatkal bookings,” the report quoted a senior commercial clerk saying.

IRCTC officials said the upgrade of the portal with various additional features has resulted in the migration of a bulk of passengers to online booking.