IRCTC handled 20 lakh train ticket bookings in a day: How it is managing the festive season rush

IRCTC train ticket booking: The festive season has brought a sharp rise in demand for train tickets, putting the Indian Railways online reservation system under heavy pressure. Amid the rush, IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) has been continuously upgrading its ticket booking system to handle a large number of passengers trying to book tickets at the same time.

According to IRCTC, the railway PSU recorded its highest-ever single-day booking of 20,06,353 tickets on September 7, 2026, due to festive-season advance reservation period (ARP) bookings. The system handled another 19,50,699 ticket bookings on September 8.

IRCTC said around 89 per cent of all reserved tickets are currently booked online. The upgrades include additional servers, changes to the NGeT system, a new user interface, anti-bot technology and other measures aimed at improving the booking experience for genuine passengers.

According to IRCTC, the capacity of its Next Generation e-Ticketing (NGeT) system has been significantly increased through both hardware and software upgrades. The railway PSU said new servers have been added in place of older infrastructure, increasing the overall capacity of the system to nearly twice its earlier level.

Software optimisation and architectural improvements have also helped increase the system's ability to handle booking requests. IRCTC also introduced the beta version of its new user interface on July 15, 2026. The redesigned interface gives the booking website a more modern look and presents information in a more structured manner.

One of the changes is that passengers can view availability across different classes, including Sleeper, AC 3 Tier and AC 2 Tier, on a single screen. This allows passengers to compare available classes without having to move between multiple screens during the booking process.

The booking rush is particularly high immediately after the opening of the reservation window. According to IRCTC, 8.43 per cent to 14.14 per cent of the day's bookings are completed during the first hour between 8 am and 9 am.

More than 85 per cent of bookings are completed later in the day. "The first 15 minutes (8:00–8:15 AM) consistently record the highest booking volume, reflecting peak concurrent demand," it said. To manage this rush and prevent misuse of the system, IRCTC has also introduced several measures around the opening reservation period.

These are as follows: IRCTC said that only Aadhaar-authenticated users are permitted to book tickets during the opening ARP window, a measure that came into effect on October 12, 2025. Authorised ticketing agents, including Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra (YTSKs), Railway Ticketing Service Agents (RTSAs) and IRCTC agents, are also prohibited from booking ARP tickets during the first 10 minutes of the booking window, from 8 am to 8:10 am.

According to IRCTC, the NGeT system has been handling around 1.33 crore to 1.74 crore logins and 17 lakh to 20 lakh bookings on each ARP opening day. IRCTC has also strengthened its systems to tackle automated and suspicious traffic.

According to the railway PSU, an anti-bot system has helped reduce malicious bot traffic by around 55 per cent to 65 per cent in recent months. IRCTC has also implemented a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for static content.

The move is aimed at reducing the load on the main NGeT system and improving the experience for genuine users. The network security team is also taking action against fake websites and mobile applications that impersonate IRCTC.

IRCTC said it has taken further action against accounts and activity suspected of misusing the ticketing system. According to the railway PSU, 3.04 crore user IDs have been deactivated, while another 6.33 crore IDs have been put under revalidation.

It has also blocked 16,041 suspicious email domains and lodged 592 complaints on the Cyber Crime Portal, covering around 4.21 lakh suspicious PNRs.