Artificial Intelligence, Easy Payments: IRCTC Website, App Revamped With New Features

The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the e-ticketing arm of Indian Railways will now provide an improved online ticket booking experience for passengers as the IRCTC official e-ticketing website and IRCTC Rail Connect mobile app have been revamped with easy-to-access, user-centric facilities. Railway Ministry Piyush Goyal on Thursday, December 31, launched the upgraded IRCTC website and app with new features. According to the Railway Ministry, user personalization features have been incorporated for the first time ever. These include facilities such as integrated booking for meals, accommodation along with train tickets for an easier travel experience. (Also Read: IRCTC SBI RuPay Card: How To Avail Reward Points, Discounts On Train Tickets )

The next-generation e-ticketing (NGeT) system was launched in 2014 to provide e-ticketing services for passengers, for managing booking loads, and to offer a better user interface through IRCTC. Here's all you need to know about the new features offered by the IRCTC upgraded website and IRCTC Rail Connect app. 
 

IRCTC E-Ticketing Website Revamped - Top Features:

-Complete user personalisation: 

• The booking of meals, retiring rooms, and hotels have been integrated and can be directly done along with the tickets, providing a one-stop solution for passenger's needs.
• The predictive entry suggestions using Artificial Intelligence (AI) will be given to passengers when they are entering the station. This will reduce the hassle in searching for stations and also save time in ticket booking.
• Simpler checking of the refund status at the user accounts page. Earlier, this feature was not easily accessible. The refund status of all journeys including cancellations will be displayed.
• ‘Regular' or ‘favorite' journeys can be booked easily by automatically entering the relevant details.

-Train search and selection simplified by displaying information on one page to save passenger's time

• The information on availability for all classes along with respective fares for all trains will be displayed on one page. Scroll the page and choose to ‘book' the desired train and class. Earlier each train seat's availability and fares could be seen only after clicking on that train individually.
• A ‘cache system' is introduced in the backend to provide the availability status. This will avoid delays in loading availabilities.
• In the case of waitlisted tickets, the ‘confirmation probability' will be displayed. 
• Prompts during the booking process for making the process easier for people who are not very familiar with internet surfing

-The journey details will be shown on the payment page as well. The payments page has been improved for easy selection. It will prompt passengers to check and rectify if there are any typographical errors. 

-The IRCTC website has in-built features for enhancing cybersecurity by using appropriate captchas.