Indian Railways (IR) will launch the beta version of the IRCTC website soon. In a statement last Friday (July 10), IR said, IRCTC has made four major improvements in the beta version as follows:
1. Captcha: No unnecessary captchas. No unnecessary pop ups. No flashing graphics. No distracting elements.
2. Seat availability: Visible across all classes.
3. Faster checkout: Reduction in the number of steps to book
4. Easier repeat booking: Saved passenger details.
The revamped IRCTC website is currently being integrated with Passenger Reservation engine of IR. The fully functional new IRCTC portal will be available in a few months since the Passenger Reservation engine is also being revamped in parallel.
Feedback from MNIT students
Officials of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and Centre for Railway Information Systems met the students of Malviya National Institute of of Technology (MNIT) Jaipur on July 10,2026 to obtain feedback on the Beta version of new IRCTC website before launch.
The students were given an experience of the Beta version on July 10 after they pointed out issues in the IRCTC website a few weeks ago. IR in turn had promised the students to fix these issues by July 15.
Revamp of PRS engine
The revamp of the four decade old Passenger Reservation engine that powers the various train booking apps is being done. This required extensive work, because the system had to be operated throughout this journey of upgradation. IR will launch the new Passenger Reservation engine very soon. On May 7,2026, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw held a review meeting with Railway Board officials in the presence of both Union Ministers of State V. Somanna and Ravneet Singh Bittu. He had then issued directions to ensure that passengers do not face any inconvenience during the transition of trains from the 40-year-old reservation system to the upgraded system.
