Indian Railways is set to overhaul its passenger reservation system with a new AI-powered platform that will be capable of processing 1.25 lakh ticket bookings per minute — five times the current capacity of 25,000 per minute. The announcement was made by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) on Wednesday, its 41st Foundation Day.

For anyone who has tried booking a tatkal ticket at exactly 10 am and watched the IRCTC website freeze, crash, or spin endlessly, the upgrade addresses the single most frustrating pain point in Indian rail travel. The current system's 25,000-per-minute ceiling was built for a different era of demand, and it buckles every time there is a surge — whether during festive seasons, holiday rushes, or the daily tatkal scramble.

CRIS officials said the enhanced capacity will substantially improve system performance and allow Railways to meet the growing demand for reservations without the chronic bottlenecks that have plagued passengers for years. The expectation is that app and website hangs during high-traffic booking windows will become significantly less frequent.

On the app front, Railways' super app RailOne, launched last year, has crossed 4.35 crore downloads and is processing an average of 10 lakh transactions daily. Officials said the app's straightforward design has contributed to its adoption among passengers.

Beyond ticket booking, Railways is deploying AI for predictive maintenance — using the technology to identify potential faults in trains before they occur, reducing breakdowns and strengthening safety protocols. CRIS Managing Director GVL Satya Kumar said the common thread across all these developments is the same: ensuring that the benefits of technology reach the ordinary citizen rather than remaining confined to infrastructure upgrades that passengers never see.

A timeline for when the upgraded booking system goes live has not been officially announced. Further details are awaited.