the redesigned web of IRCTC and the passenger convenience....

People often blame Govt services……….. there are some where service is exemplary ~ cynics would still criticize Railways for their untidiness, tardiness and more… but all must admit that life has changed a lot – for the better…….. a couple of decades ago, the first worry for the traveler was to carry one’s ticket without forgetting.  Everyone would ask ‘whether one had taken one’s rail ticket’ ~ some would have had the dreaded experience of forgetting ~ making a dash back to home or paying a heavy fine………. Gone are those days… with e-ticketing – people started travelling with printouts [some would take multiple printouts and keep them in every luggage compartment]……. 

Further advancement – people started or were allowed to travel without printed ticket – mere e-form of e-mail, picture, SMS would do…. If you forget ticket these tickets, simply see your PNR on the reservation chart, SMS to 139 and now you would be armed with a SMS with all details of your travel ! Great indeed.

Lot of that credit besides Indian Railways should go to IRCTC [Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation] ~ which going by the name is the subsidiary of the Indian Railways that handles the catering and tourism.  As per new Railway Catering Policy 2010 (Introduced by Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee), catering services provided by IRCTC were handed over to INDIAN Railways. Now IRCTC is in charge of catering services on few trains such as All Duranto Exp, Farakka Exp, Maitree Express.

If not catering, it is better known for changing the face of railway ticketing in India. It pioneered internet-based rail ticket booking through its website, as well as from the mobile phones via GPRS or SMS.  Sure all of us have an account with IRCTC – thus using the User Name for booking railway tickets on the web. IRCTC is currently using 58 iridium servers  and as of May 2013, the ticketing site of the IRCTC is able to handle about 1.2 lakh concurrent connections on web servers and can book about 2000 tickets per minute.  

Today’s TOI reports that it has earned Rs 29 crore from its 80 non- railway catering outlets across the country in 2012-13, a jump of Rs 18 crore compared to previous year. With the exit from Railways catering, they explored their strength  in government offices and other institutions. Currently they have cafeterias in Shastri Bhawan (New Delhi), Writers' Building and Kolkata High Court (Kolkata), Bhilai Steel Plant, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre in Mumbai and in several other states as well. 

Their website www.irctc.co.in is more userfriendly now introducing many new features… one such is ‘the display of balance time’….. also now, when you make searches for 2 or more trains, the history remains as it is on the screen, enabling and providing you with chance to return to the earlier one and proceed with booking your ticket.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

3^rd Oct 2013.