IRCTC's new website is live: Faster Tatkal, seat choice and a fare calendar — here's what changed

India's railway ticket booking experience is undergoing its biggest overhaul in years. IRCTC's redesigned website went live on July 15, 2026 — announced by Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw after students raised concerns about CAPTCHA issues and booking difficulties. (AI generated representative image)

The most significant upgrade is raw capacity. The current system processes around 32,000 ticket bookings per minute. The upgraded platform is expected to support more than 1.5 lakh bookings per minute — a nearly 5x improvement that directly targets Tatkal congestion.

The new Passenger Reservation System will also dramatically improve enquiry handling — from the current 4 lakh enquiries per minute to over 40 lakh per minute. This means seat availability checks and PNR status updates will be significantly faster for all users.

Passengers will now be able to submit preferred seat choices while booking. A newly added fare calendar will allow travellers to compare ticket prices across different travel dates before confirming — a feature long available on airline booking portals but new for Indian Railways. (AI generated representative image)

Instead of checking Sleeper, AC 3 Tier, AC 2 Tier and other classes separately, users will now see availability across all classes on a single screen. This alone is expected to cut the time spent searching for suitable tickets significantly. (AI generated representative image)

The redesigned IRCTC website will support multiple Indian languages, remove unnecessary pop-ups and CAPTCHA interruptions, and integrate services for Divyangjan, students and patients in one place — making the platform more accessible for every type of user across India.