Hyderabad: Indian Railways will now release the final reservation chart eight hours before scheduled departure, replacing the current four-hour cutoff. The change was announced Sunday and will be introduced in phases.
The decision is aimed at reducing uncertainty for waitlisted passengers and giving rural and remote-area travellers additional time to plan alternative transport if tickets remain unconfirmed. Railway officials said the move is intended to streamline boarding logistics and improve passenger planning windows across zones.
The new schedule was finalised following a review of ticketing system reforms by Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, who directed officials to prioritise transparency and commuter convenience.
Alongside the charting change, Railways is undertaking a major technical upgrade of its Passenger Reservation System (PRS). The overhauled platform, being developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), will be ten times more powerful than the current system.
The revamped Passenger Reservation System (PRS) is gearing up for a major leap, with the capacity to handle over 1.5 lakh ticket bookings and more than 40 lakh status enquiries every minute. The system is slated to go live by December 2025.
Among the new features on deck: a multilingual interface, a cleaner, more intuitive design, a fare calendar to help travelers plan better, and smarter tools for choosing seats. Priority features for students, patients, and persons with disabilities are being integrated into the architecture.
From July 1, Tatkal bookings on the IRCTC website and mobile app will be restricted to verified users. By the end of the month, all Tatkal bookings will require OTP-based verification through Aadhaar, DigiLocker, or any government-linked ID system.
