IRCTC Experiences Major Outage Due to Maintenance; Passengers Left Unable to Book Tickets
IRCTC Experiences Major Outage Due to Maintenance; Passengers Left Unable to Book Tickets
The online ticketing platform of Indian Railways is down due to maintenance activities, affecting users during the holiday season.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), the online ticketing platform for Indian Railways, is experiencing a major outage, leaving passengers unable to access its website and mobile app on Thursday. The disruption, confirmed by IRCTC, is due to scheduled maintenance, with the platform advising users to “please try later” as e-ticketing services are temporarily unavailable.
IRCTC down at the peak hour.
— Shivam Raghuwanshi (@shivamraghu_) December 26, 2024
While looking for 'Irctc down' tweets, I came to know that It is a regular feature of @IRCTCofficial , its website was down on 03.12.2024, then on 09.12.2024 and today again.
Pathetic services @IRCTCofficial @AshwiniVaishnaw pic.twitter.com/o1QYRiMsa5
This is the second time in December that the IRCTC platform has faced significant technical issues, causing frustration among frequent users. In addition to the outage, the company issued an advisory for passengers looking to cancel tickets, offering alternatives such as contacting customer care or emailing ticket details to receive a Ticket Deposit Receipt (TDR). The timing of the outage has been particularly inconvenient, as many passengers rely on IRCTC for booking or managing train tickets during the busy holiday season.
The IRCTC disruption also impacted its stock performance, with shares falling nearly 1% during Thursday’s trading session. Over the past week, the stock has decreased by almost 4%, and year-to-date, the stock has experienced a negative return of over 10% for investors in 2024.
The outage comes shortly after Indian Railways implemented significant changes to its ticket booking policies. Starting November 1, the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) for train bookings was reduced from 120 days to 60 days. This change, designed to curb over-bookings and cancellations, has drawn mixed reactions. It aims to improve tracking of travel demand and better plan for special trains during peak travel times. Railway Board officials noted that a substantial portion of reservations made 61 to 120 days in advance were either canceled or went unused.
The outage sparked outrage among users on social media, with many expressing frustration over the platform’s technical failures, particularly when trying to book Tatkal tickets. Tatkal bookings, which allow passengers to reserve tickets one day before departure, start at 10 am for AC classes and 11 am for non-AC classes. As the outage persisted, some users took to social media, questioning the reliability of the platform: “India reached the moon, but the Indian Railways ticket booking app can’t handle Tatkal booking without crashing. It’s 2024, and a stable server shouldn’t be rocket science!” one user remarked.
With this being the second IRCTC outage within the same month, passengers are calling for a more reliable system, especially during high-demand periods like the holiday season.
Customer Care Numbers: 14646, 08044647999, 08035734999
Email: [email protected]
