Indian Railways to launch new ticketing system, revamp IRCTC website

New Delhi : The Indian Railways on July 23 announced that QR code tickets will be generated to ensure contact-less ticket checking. The facility will be available for both online and offline tickets.

As a result, there won't be any contact between passengers and railway employees.

Those who will book their tickets will be receiving a QR code via message which can be scanned by a Railway employee through his hand-held scanning machine. Even platform tickets will also be made available via digital modes.

The Indian Railways has announced that they are taking measures to ensure a complete digitization of the operation soon.

Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav stated that the IRCTC ticket booking website is being redesigned and will be rolled out in August.

"Passengers will have much better experience when the new portal is launched," he said. 

Elaborating on the initiative, he said: " All freight and passenger operations will be tracked by satellite by December 2021 after 6,000 additional locomotives are fitted. All fixed assets of Railways have been mapped and maintenance of all software is being tracked digitally. The E-Drishti dashboard sends key information to executive officers. Public can also access some data via the Rail Drishti portal. With the Electronic Drawing Approval System (E-DAS), we will be able to fast track project implementation. Through Smart Yards and Smart coaches, we will be able to monitor wagons and coaches. There will be RFID tags for wagon identification. By December 2021, entire freight operations will be tracked through satellite."

Meanwhile, it has been claimed that the IRCTC is not planning to go completely paperless as most passengers are still not ready or comfortable with complete digital ticketing system.

“It was a loss making company and a lot of work was done in the last two years and it has started making profit. The Railway Board has allowed the company to export rolling stock,” he said.