NEW RESERVATION SYSTEM IN RAILWAY FROM AUGUST

NEW RESERVATION SYSTEM IN RAILWAY FROM AUGUST

8-MAY-ENG 2

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

DELHI--------------------------Indian Railways is bidding farewell to its four-decade-old Passenger Reservation System (PRS) and is moving towards a state-of-the-art, upgraded system. The migration of trains to this new system is set to commence in August 2026. During a high-level review meeting held at Rail Bhawan, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw instructed officials to ensure that passengers face absolutely no inconvenience during this transition phase.

The current reservation system was originally introduced in 1986. Over the past 40 years, it has undergone numerous minor modifications; however, it has now been completely revamped and equipped with modern technology. The new system is not only cutting-edge but also boasts significantly enhanced operational capacity, designed to meet the growing demands of the future.

The meeting also included discussions regarding the success of Indian Railways' mobile application, 'RailOne'. Launched in July 2025, the app has surpassed the milestone of 35 million (3.5 crore) downloads in less than a year.

•           94% Prediction Accuracy: Passengers can now utilize AI (Artificial Intelligence) to determine whether their waitlisted tickets are likely to get confirmed. The accuracy rate of this prediction feature has risen from 53% to 94%.

•           Integrated Services: In addition to booking reserved, unreserved, and platform tickets, the app also provides access to real-time train status updates and coach position details.

According to statistics, the majority of the country's population now prefers online channels over traditional ticket counters for booking tickets. Online platforms currently account for 88% of the total ticketing demand. The 'RailOne' app alone facilitates the booking of an average of 929,000 tickets per day.

Alongside enhancing passenger amenities, the Railways has also placed a strong emphasis on affordable travel. During the financial year 2024-25, Indian Railways provided subsidies amounting to ₹60,239 crore to passengers. This simply means that, on average, every passenger receives a discount of 43%. If the railway incurs a cost of ₹100, the passenger is charged only ₹57.

With this transition, set to commence in August, it is expected that the rail ticket booking process will become faster, more transparent, and more accurate than ever before.