Passengers may not get confirmed berths each time they book a train ticket, but now, thanks to a predictive service on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website, they will get to know their chances of getting one, officials said on Monday.
From Friday, when the new, refurbished IRCTC website goes live, it will let the passengers know the probability of confirmation of tickets on wait-list, based on a new algorithm developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS).
“According to the new feature of wait list prediction, one can predict the chances of a wait-listed or an RAC ticket getting confirmed on the basis of booking trends. We will mine our own data of passenger operations and booking patterns for the first time,” a senior Railway Ministry official said.
The idea, the officials said, came from Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who had given a one-year deadline last year to complete the process of inducting the predictive service on the IRCTC website.
The algorithm will take into account last 13 years’ data to arrive at a “robust, workable model”, the officials said.
While predictions have been used by private players, the officials said the Indian Railways system would be more reliable as it would have the advantage of the database of the national transporter.
A user need not even log in to the new website to enquire or search for trains and check on availability of seats, while the older version only allowed access to the registered users.
“While booking tickets, separate cards for each passenger have been provided to fill in their details. Pre-filled particulars will ensure a quick booking experience. The user can manage the payment options by marking six banks as preferred banks under the ‘My Profile’ section,” an official said.
The users can also perform multiple activities like cancellation, printing, request for an SMS, selection of an alternative train by exercising the “Vikalp” option and changing the boarding point, if required.
Nearly 13 lakh tickets are booked on the IRCTC website every day against a reserved accommodation of 10.5 lakh berths, the officials said.
