Indian Railways has finally launched their official Android application: IRCTC Connect on Google Playstore. Users can use their existing login details to access this app, and book tickets, enquire about availability of berths and perform all the activities which can be performed on their website.
You can download the app at here.
Earlier, IRCTC had launched an application only for Blackberry platform. Now with Android covered as well, more users would be able to access Indian Railways, on the move.
With more than 170 million mobile internet users in India, a number which is increasing at fast rate, Indian Railways has done the most sensible thing to help users connect with IRCTC seamlessly. Earlier, in the month of August, Indian Rail has upgraded their e-ticketing platform to accommodate 7200 ticket bookings every minute along with a capacity of 1.2 lakh users at any given moment.
IRCTC has banned the usage of this application between 8.00 AM to 12.00 PM, a step which has been taken to reduce the load on mobile platform during the morning rush hours. Additionally, as this time period is used extensively to book Tatkal tickets, the decision seems right as everyone will get a fair chance to attempt Tatkal tickets.
Users can easily navigate this app, as the designers have followed the best practices of UX while designing this app; meanwhile complete care has been take to choose the right color combination to come up with nicely designed interface.
IRCTC is also providing a detailed user-guide which explains every screen process in depth. For example, here is how users can enquire about a particular train and book tickets:
Users can view all the major information about a train route, as the applications summarizes the details optimally in one screen. For example, train list:
The process to book tickets, and add the person’s name and other details are easy as well. Just like in the website, passengers can opt for various payment options while making the booking. This is how the confirmed ticket appears once booked via this app:
Within few hours of its launch, IRCTC Connect has attracted thousands of downloads, with 750+ reviews as the time of writing. Average rating is 4.3/5, which is excellent to say the least.
There are some complains mentioned in the reviews such as lack of synchronization between the website account and mobile app account; provision to change password, creation of profile etc.
Do share your feedback after using this official Android app of IRCTC by commenting right here!