Reservation System – Indian Railways

1. Technical Information

• PRS (Passenger Reservation System) is the core IT application that handles reserved ticketing on Indian Railways.
• Platform: CRIS (Centre for Railways Information Systems) developed it on HP-UX/Oracle RDBMS.
• Network: 5,000+ reservation counters, 5,000+ UTSON mobile hand-held terminals, 24×7 call-centre (139), web portal (irctc.co.in), mobile apps (IRCTC Rail Connect, UTS).
• Peak Capacity: > 1.2 crore reserved berths/seats per day; PRS processes 13–15 lakh transactions per peak-hour.
• Architecture: Centralised hub at CRIS–New Delhi with disaster-recovery site at Navi Mumbai (CRIS-DR); both are hot-hot clusters.
• PNR Logic: 10-digit number; first 3 digits reveal PRS zone/booking cluster (e.g. 8xx = NR, 4xx = SR).
• Quota Architecture: 28 distinct quotas (GN, CK, TQ, PQ, LD, DF, HO, HP etc.) with layered precedence rules.
• Vikalp (Alternate Train): opt-in during booking; system allots confirm berths in any train 0–48 h before journey.
• Charting: Two charts – first 4 h before departure; second 30 min before departure (unreserved tickets can be bought after second chart).
• e-Ticket vs i-Ticket: e-Ticket = user print-out (only ID proof); i-Ticket = couriered by IRCTC (now discontinued w.e.f. 01-11-2022).

2. Important Facts, Figures & Specifications

• First Computerised PRS: Started at New Delhi (Northern Railway) on 18-Oct-1985 (HP 1000 mini-computer).
• Nation Roll-out: Completed in 1995 (all zonal HQ linked).
• Largest Migration: CONCERT (Country-wide Network of Computerised Enhanced Reservation & Ticketing) replaced legacy PRS during 1999-2002.
• Current Version: PRS-6.3 (with VRM – Virtual Reservation Message, 2021).
• Data Points:

  • 65 crore reserved passengers annually (pre-COVID).

  • 2.5 crore live PNRs at any instant.

  • Average booking window = 18 days; Tatkal opens 1 day in advance (AC @ 10:00 h, Non-AC @ 11:00 h).
  • Cancellation refund rules governed by Railway Refund Rules 2022 (w.e.f. 15-04-2022).
• Concession Types: 53 categories, highest 75 % (Divyangjan, Cancer, Thalasena Major).
• Security: 128-bit SSL, two-factor IRCTC authentication, CAPTCHA, reCAPTCHA v3, AI-based fraud analytics.
• GST: 5 % GST on convenience fee (IRCTC) since 01-07-2017; rail fare itself exempt.

3. Historical Developments

4. Current Status & Recent Updates (2023-24)

• Next-Gen e-Ticketing (NGET): CRIS floated RFP (Oct-2023) for cloud-native micro-services architecture (target 2026).
• UTS 2.0: QR-based paperless journey for suburban; now live in 15 cities (latest: Pune, Barabanki-Lucknow).
• Sleeper Class Dynamic Fare: Pilot on 142 special trains (Dec-2023); surge capped at 1.5× base fare.
• DigiYatra-like Rail: Biometric boarding trial at Bengaluru & Varanasi (face ticket + Aadhaar).
• Tatkal Plus: Waiting list of 100 introduced (Aug-2023) to reduce site rush.
• Refund Timeline: Bank account credit within 3-5 days (per RBI circular 2023); e-wallet refund instant.
• Reservation for Senior Citizens: Age reduced from 60 M/58 F to 58 M/55 F (proposal 2024-25 budget).
• Vande Bharat Sleeper: Reservation opens 60 days in advance (same as Rajdhani) w.e.f. launch Feb-2024.
• Green Initiatives: e-Ticket saves ~8,000 t paper/yr; Go-green invoice via email.

Quick Glance Points for Exams

• PNR = Passenger Name Record; first digit 8 → NR, 4 → SR, 2 → SCR.
• Maximum berth allowed in one PNR = 6 (can be relaxed to 12 for group).
• Ladies quota = 6 berths per coach (AC) & 10 % in Sleeper.
• RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation) = half-berth sharing; maximum RAC seats = 2 × normal berth capacity.
• Current booking window = 120 days (except Vande Bharat 60 days, Premium Tatkal 1 day).
• Agent booking banned during first 30 min of Tatkal opening (08:30-09:00 for AC, 09:30-10:00 for Non-AC).

Multiple Choice Questions