Indian Railways
Big change ahead: Railways to phase out 40-year-old reservation setup from August
The Indian Railways will gradually begin migrating trains to an upgraded passenger reservation system from August, marking a major shift from its nearly 40-year-old ticketing infrastructure, the Ministry of Railways said on Thursday.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw chaired a review meeting with senior officials and directed them to ensure that passengers do not face inconvenience during the transition to the modernised reservation system.
“Started in 1986, this system has undergone several minor changes over the past 40 years. However, it has now been completely overhauled, and its capacity has been significantly expanded using state-of-the-art technology,” the Ministry said in a statement.
Indian Railways introduced internet-based ticket booking in 2002. Over the years, online ticketing has become the dominant mode of reservation, with the Ministry stating that nearly 88 per cent of the country’s total ticketing demand is currently fulfilled through digital platforms.
The Ministry also highlighted the growing popularity of the RailOne mobile application, launched in July last year. In less than a year, the app has crossed 3.5 crore downloads nationwide.
“One of the biggest reasons for its popularity is that the app not only provides all railway-related information to the common man but also resolves complaints related to ticketing and other services,” the statement said.
The Ministry said the app now uses Artificial Intelligence-based prediction technology to estimate the probability of waitlisted tickets getting confirmed. According to officials, the accuracy of waitlist confirmation predictions has improved from 53 per cent earlier to 94 per cent now.
The RailOne app offers integrated services including booking, cancellation and refunds for reserved, unreserved and platform tickets. It also provides real-time updates on train schedules, live train running status, platform information, coach positions and access to Rail Madad for passenger assistance.
Passengers can also order food through the app for delivery directly to their seats during travel.
According to the Ministry, around 9.29 lakh tickets are booked daily through the app across the country, including 7.2 lakh unreserved tickets and 2.09 lakh reserved tickets. The app has been downloaded 3.16 crore times from the Google Play Store and over 33 lakh times on Apple devices.
Calling Indian Railways a “lifeline” for the country, the Ministry said the national transporter provided a passenger subsidy of ₹60,239 crore during 2024–25. This translates into an average subsidy of 43 per cent on every ticket fare.
“In other words, if the actual cost of providing the service is ₹100, passengers are charged only ₹57,” the statement added.
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