June 30, 2025 - The Indian Railways is implementing new plans aimed at improving passenger convenience. It is preparing to revamp its ticketing and reservation process and efforts are underway to speed it up. By the end of this year, a new passenger reservation system will be rolled out.

Putting emphasis on the ticketing system, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday, June 29,  stressed it should be smart, transparent, accessible and efficient. Planning should focus on passenger convenience ensuring a smooth and comfortable travel experience for passengers, he said.

Under the new system, reservation charts will now be prepared eight hours before train departure, instead of the current four hours. The Railway Board has proposed this change which means that for trains departing before 1400 hours, the reservation chart will be prepared the previous day at 2100 hrs itself. 

The Minister has agreed to this proposal and directed that it be implemented in a phased manner to avoid disruptions.

Additionally, Railways is bringing in a modernised Passenger Reservation System (PRS) under which the capacity for ticket generation will be increased fivefold - from the current 32,000 tickets per minute to over 1.5 lakh (150,000) tickets per minute. This upgrade is expected to be completed by December 2025.

The new PRS is expected to be more user-friendly. Passengers will be able to interact with the system in multiple languages, making the booking process more accessible for non-English-speaking passengers. It will also have features like seat selection option, fare-check calendars and the facility to book tickets based on specific needs, i.e. for Divyangjan, students or patients.

The Ministry is also deliberating on waiving off clerkage charge on cancelled waitlisted tickets. Currently, when a waitlisted ticket is cancelled, the passenger does not get a full refund. The Railways deducts a small charge as clerkage charge - Rs 60 is deducted on all reserved class tickets while a clerkage charge of Rs 30 is applicable for unreserved second-class tickets.