New passenger reservation system: Railways to introduce modern PRS by December 2025; here's what you should expect

The upgraded PRS, being developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS), will be agile, flexible and scalable to handle ten times the current load. Once operational, it will enable booking of over 1.5 lakh tickets per minute, up from around 32,000 tickets per minute currently.

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently reviewed the progress of these reforms and emphasised that the “ticketing system should be smart, transparent, accessible and efficient”, with planning focused on passenger convenience.

“The system must ensure a smooth and comfortable travel experience to our passengers,” Vaishnaw was quoted as saying in a release.

The new system will also improve ticket enquiry capacity from four lakh to over 40 lakh per minute, according to the ministry.

“In the new PRS, users will be able to submit their choice of seat and see the fare calendar,” the release added.

It was not immediately clear how the ability to choose seats would be different from the current feature.

It will also have integrated facilities for Divyangjan, students, and patients.

Changes to advanced charting

Meanwhile, the Railways has proposed preparing reservation charts eight hours before departure instead of the current four hours.

For trains departing before 2 pm, charts will be prepared the previous day at 9 pm.

The move, which will be implemented in phases, is expected to benefit passengers travelling from remote locations or suburbs who need clarity on their travel plans in advance.

Aadhaar authentication

Apart from improved advanced charting, Indian Railways will allow only authenticated users to book such tickets on the IRCTC website and mobile app starting July 1, 2025. OTP-based authentication will also be introduced by the end of July 2025. The authentication mechanism will use Aadhaar or other verifiable government IDs available in the user’s DigiLocker account.

“These measures reflect the continuous efforts of Indian Railways to modernise its systems and make them more citizen friendly,” the government said.