PowerPoint Presentation

The Railway Reservation System

IndianRailways(IR)is the largest rail network inAsiaand the worlds second largest under one management.Indian Railwaysis an Indianstate-ownedenterprise, owned and operated by thegovernment of Indiathrough theMinistry of Railways. It is one of the world's largest railway networks comprising of track over a route of 65,000km (40,000mi) and 7,500 stations. IR carries about 7,500 million passengers annually or more than 20 million passengers daily.The manual system had reached its peak capacity, resulting in long queues and waiting times, and inefficient services at the reservation counters. Complicated rate calculations, manual ledger books and paperwork led to errors. IntroducingThe Great Indian Railways

Booking tickets on trains used to be an impossible task. Reservation was handled by a complicated system of manually handwritten ledgers and registers and could be done only from originating or very big stations en route the train. Computerization has made the process easier and more accessible to traveling public and drastically increased traffic. CRIS, the Centre for Railway Information Systems was established in 1986 to handle everything related to IT in the Indian Railways. And the Passenger Reservation System (PRS) is only one among the several projects that CRIS handles. PRS was started at Delhi in 1985 to handle computerized reservations for a few trains. It was then extended to Mumbai, Chennai , Kolkata in 1987 and by 1990 most of the long distance train reservations were computerized as far as the railways are concernedIn 2000, The first major project launched came in the year 2000; it was the Internet Querying system for PRS (Passenger Reservation System). Passengers could check their PNR statuses, railway timetables etc.In 2002, the online booking website by IRCTC was launched. The Chronicles of the Reservation system

Reservation Counters at StationsMost cities have ticket counters located at multiple locations for the passengers convenience. There are special quotas for foreign tourists. India railway ticket counters are open 8.00 a.m. till 8.00 p.m. on weekdays, and 8.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m. on Sundays. You can use credit cards for booking tickets at the special Credit Card counters at the reservation office.AgentsAutomatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs): The smartcards can be swiped at and used at booking counters at select stations IRCTC website Other Websites: such as makemytrip and yatraMobile (SMS): the ticket would be delivered on your mobile phone.Ind-Rail Pass: Available to foreign tourists from abroad. buy an Ind Rail Pass from the official Ind Rail pass agency in your home country, complete with any train reservations you need.

Methods of Reservation

E-ticketing facility was extended to Railway agents (RTSAs) during 2006. Until now more than 10,000 agents are enrolled for this E-ticketing facility and on daily basis almost 2 lac tickets are booked by these respective agents all over the country.Used by people to book in bulk and by people who do not wish to book directly.

Agents

Launched in 2002 .Tickets for Rail journeys and Tatkal tickets can be booked the Internet on the website by any user after registering at the site for free.Booking for normal passengers opens at 8am and for agents at 10am: This is to enhance convenience of usage of the website.Credit and Debit cards are accepted during internet transactionsNominal service charge is levied (Customers dont mind this as tickets are booked sitting at home)Cap of maximum of four online bookings a month, and each ticket can be for a maximum of six passengers.Automatic Refunds: A refund is made on the card in case of cancellation Customer Support Services: can be availed by dialing the no 139 which is a 24 hour service.

IRCTC WEB PORTAL

Checking PNR StatusSeat availability (Indianrail.gov.in)Senior citizens given preference Trains availability between stationsTrain schedule updated in present timeRoute and Fare EnquiryArrivals and Departures

SOFT scheme: Frequent Travellers scheme was launched whereby a Frequent Traveller could redeem points earned to get a complementary train trip after a certain number of reward points had accumulated..Unreserved Ticketing Scheme (UTS): Prior to the implementation of UTS, unreserved tickets were in the form of small purpose-built cards, specially printed for each origin-destination pair of stations. Disbursing these tickets was a mammoth exercise, requiring mundane and wasteful effort just to keep the tickets in stock. Passengers faced crowded and chaotic ticket windows, last-minute ticketing glitches, and opaque ticket refund rules. The UTS has eliminated all these bottlenecks by having a centralised database of tickets, which can be bought in advance from any ticket window. An unreserved ticket authorizes these journeys but as the name implies, offers no reserved seats or berths. The ticket is not specific to a train service either. This facility is predominantly used over short distances where assured seating is not a necessity.Sahaj- IRCTC partnership: A specific vehicle to extend the ticket booking facilities to rural India. This makes sure that all the villagers obtain all services that their urban counterparts are already familiar with.

Schemes to enhance your experience

CleartripYatraMakemytripIxigoQuickr

Other Websites

The IRCTC mobile has an attractive and user-friendly interface to facilitate easy navigation and has capability to book tickets in real time and store tickets details, making it an ideal ticketing solution.

Once you enter your mobile number in the IRCTC web page, you will be automatically registered, post which you can download and install IRCTC mobile on your java-enabled mobile phone. You can start booking railway tickets through your IRCTC mobile and pay through the credit card/ cash card.

PNR Alert Service: An SMS based service through which the customer is kept appraised of the ticket status as it moves from Waitlist to Confirmed, before the journey. IRCTC had taken up the project for launch of Integrated Train Enquiry System- Rail Sampark 139 with the objective of providing State of the Art enquiry services to Railway Passengers all over the countrySMS Booking: The simplest version of Mobile ticketing wherein the ticked can be booked using just 2 SMS.

Mobile Applications and SMS

Reservation counters are available at multiple locations and is best for people living close to such stations, those who are not techno savvy. Also there is no service charge paid. Best for immediate and local travel.ATVMs are very useful for those who travel everyday. They can avail various schemes and it saves them from standing in long queues.Agents have special portals on the websites and can book in bulk. They are useful for busy people who do not have the time to indulge in transactions.Mobile services are extremely quick, can be accessed from anywhere and do not need a print out. Does away with the need of a high speed internet service.There is a surety of transparency in the services offered.

Benefits to the Passengers

6. Its a value for money journey.7. Improving the facilities day by day like pantry food(making it hygenic) also it is eco- friendly as one of the objectives of the railways as they now allow tickets to be shown on the mobile phone, which has reduced the use printed E-ticket.

8. IRCTC Provides tickets to public in the comforts of their home/residence and save them from hassles to visit Railway Reservation Centres.9. Simplicity and Convenience for the common man is the agenda.10.Fast and hassle-free booking11.Flexibility

Easy access has increased revenueLess crowd at Counters easy to manageCOST SAVING: For Railways it is saving on their infrastructure i.e. Buildings, Air-Conditioning, Electricity, Furniture, Staff etc. The spirit behind the project was to avoid the customer going to Passenger Reservation System (PRS) and instead bring PRS to customer. Efficient managing of voluminous information and data effectivelyMinimizes possibilities of manipulations and malpractice.Enables centralized control for monitoring and auditingEnsures accounting of the tickets sold across all railway zonesSustains growth in passengers without any growth in staffSimplifies changes in fare structure, destination and other database updates.

Benefits to the Railways

Overcrowded Reservation Counters as the counters for platform tickets are just next to it which has a huge crowd over it.Lack of Integrated Services: cannot book hotels and connecting trains through IRCTCDuring peak time, the booking process fails on payment.Problems in website: Slow service and lots of advertisements Foreigners have limited optionsComplicated if booking of more than 6 people required at a time.In case of wait listed passengers the list comes out four hours before the train actually departs which keeps the passenger in a ambiguity regarding his ticket status. The corrupt practices that the TCs do like giving their own seats to the passengers who dont have a seat at much higher prices than the actual price of the ticket.Ticket checking policies keep changing: Customers dont get notified properly

Challenges faced by the Passengers

Lack of Key Persons: e Governance projects lack key persons, not only from technological aspect, but from other aspects as well.Large Population: BurdenEstablishing Person Identities- multiple accounts and phone numbersPassengers lack trust in online bookings since webportals tend to crash and due to credit card frauds. (Secure portals)Presence of unauthorized people selling tickets right outside the counters which leads to black marketing.Agents clogging the website and booking tickets in bulk and subsequently cancelling in bulkATVMs only in 3 cities, not customer friendlyPeople book more than 1 ticket in the same name on the same trainTCs indulge in malpractice and charge illegal commission: loss revenue to railways

Problems faced by the Railways

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