New Delhi: In a major move to enhance passenger convenience, Indian Railways on Sunday announced that it has decided to prepare the reservation chart 8 hours before the train's departure, instead of the current practice of 4 hours. 

This change is aimed at reducing the uncertainty faced by passengers, especially those with waitlisted tickets.

The decision was taken after Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reviewed the progress of reforms in the ticket booking system.

He stressed that the entire ticketing experience should be smart, transparent, and efficient, keeping passenger convenience at the centre.

As per the new plan, for trains that depart before 2 p.m., the reservation chart will be prepared the night before at 9 p.m.

This change will be implemented in a phased manner to ensure a smooth transition without any disruption.

The move will especially benefit passengers coming from remote areas or the suburbs of big cities, as they will now get more time to check their ticket status and make alternative travel arrangements if needed.

Passengers with waitlist tickets will get early updates on their ticket confirmation status, making their travel plans more predictable.

Along with this, Indian Railways is also working on upgrading its Passenger Reservation System (PRS), which is expected to be completed by December 2025.

The new PRS is being developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and will be capable of handling ten times the current load.

Once implemented, it will allow booking of over 1.5 lakh tickets per minute and handle more than 40 lakh ticket enquiries per minute.

The upgraded PRS will offer a user-friendly and multilingual interface, with new features such as fare calendars, seat preference options, and integrated support for Divyangjan, students, and patients.

Additionally, starting from July 1, only authenticated users will be allowed to book Tatkal tickets on the IRCTC website and mobile app.

By the end of July, Tatkal bookings will require OTP-based authentication using Aadhaar or any other verified government ID linked to the user’s DigiLocker.

(IANS)