AI will now tell if waiting ticket will be confirmed:Indian Railways rehauls 40-year-old reservation system; trains to shift to hi-tech module from August

The Indian Railways is going to completely change its 40-year-old Passenger Reservation System (PRS). The new system will use AI to predict whether a waiting ticket will be confirmed or not. The current reservation system was started in 1986. Over the past 40 years, several minor changes were made to it, but now it has been completely revamped with the help of the latest technology to increase its capacity. The Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw held a meeting with officials on Monday and instructed them to shift trains to the new upgraded system from August.
Know the benefits of the new system and the RailOne app in QA: Question 1: What is the Railways going to change in its reservation system? Answer: Railways is upgrading its 40-year-old reservation system. From August, the process of shifting trains from the old system to the new and advanced system will begin. The aim is to increase booking capacity and use state-of-the-art technology. Question 2: What instructions has the Railway Minister given to the officials? Answer: Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw has said that passengers should not face any inconvenience while upgrading the system. Vaishnaw emphasized making the shift smooth and transparent. Question 3: How much has the trend of online ticket booking increased in the country? Answer: According to the Railways, today, approximately 88% of the total ticketing demand in the country is met through online platforms. The introduction of internet ticketing in 2002 was a major milestone, after which most people now prefer to book tickets via mobile instead of at counters. Question 4: What is the RailOne app, and how popular is it becoming? Answer: It is the Railways’ new mobile app, which was launched last year in July. In less than a year, it has been downloaded more than 3.5 crore times. It has been downloaded 3.16 crore times from the Google Play Store and 33.17 lakh times from Apple’s iOS.
Question 5: What is the accuracy of waiting list prediction in the new app? Answer: Earlier, the accuracy of predicting the confirmation of a waiting ticket was only 53%, which has now increased to 94% with the help of AI-based prediction. Now, passengers will know whether their seat will be confirmed or not at the time of booking the ticket. Question 6: How many tickets are booked daily on the Rail One app? Answer: Through this app, 9.29 lakh tickets are booked daily across the country. This includes 7.2 lakh unreserved (general and platform tickets) and 2.09 lakh reserved tickets. Question 7: Does this app also provide other facilities during travel? Answer: Yes, the RailYatri app is an ‘all-in-one’ platform. It includes services like ticket booking, cancellation, and refund, as well as live train status, platform number, coach position, and ‘Rail Madad’ (Rail Help). Passengers can also order food from this app, which is delivered directly to their seats. Question 8: How much subsidy is the government providing on train tickets? Answer: Indian Railways has provided a total subsidy of Rs 60,239 crore on passenger tickets in the financial year 2024-25. Question 9: What does this subsidy mean for the common man? Answer: To understand it in simple terms, every passenger is getting an average discount of 43% on the fare. If it costs the railway 100 rupees to provide service to a passenger, it only charges 57 rupees from the passenger in return.