The Indian Railways is preparing to revolutionize its Passenger Reservation System (PRS) to make ticket booking faster, smoother, and more reliable. With this upgrade, the waiting period for railway tickets will be drastically reduced, and passengers will get confirmed seats without delays. The upgraded PRS will increase booking speed by nearly four times compared to the current system, which processes fewer tickets per minute.
The biggest advantage of this change will be during peak travel seasons such as festivals, holidays, and busy periods when tickets are in high demand. Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Kuldeep Tiri explained that the Railways, in collaboration with the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), is overhauling hardware, software, network, and security infrastructure to achieve this milestone.
Railways Boosts Passenger Convenience with PRS Upgrade, ARP Cut, and RailOne Launch
The new system will be cloud-based, offering not just higher speed but also better security and convenience. The existing PRS, introduced in 2010, still runs on the outdated Itanium server and Open VMS, which are insufficient to handle the rising population and growing digital traffic. The modernized system aims to overcome these limitations and ensure hassle-free booking for millions of passengers.
In addition, the Railways has reduced the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) from 120 days to 60 days, effective November 1, 2024, to minimize last-minute cancellations. To further enhance passenger convenience, a new mobile app, RailOne, has been launched. This app allows travellers to book both reserved and unreserved tickets directly from their phones, making the process seamless. Moreover, in 2024–25, Railways has introduced additional general coaches in several long-distance trains to accommodate the needs of unreserved category passengers, providing relief for daily commuters and those unable to secure reservations.
Summary:
The Indian Railways is upgrading its Passenger Reservation System to a faster cloud-based model, quadrupling booking speed and ensuring confirmed seats with reduced wait times. Alongside, it cut the Advance Reservation Period to 60 days, launched the RailOne app for seamless bookings, and added general coaches to long-distance trains.
