New Delhi, 07 May (H.S.):

Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw directed officials on Thursday to ensure no passenger inconvenience during the transition of trains from the 40-year-old Passenger Reservation System (PRS) to the new advanced system.

Rail Ministers of State V. Somanna and Ravneet Singh Bittu were also present at the review meeting held at Rail Bhawan. The meeting reviewed the implementation of the new reservation system and progress on its capacity expansion.

According to the Rail Ministry, the current reservation system launched in 1986 underwent several minor changes over the past four decades but is now being completely upgraded with state-of-the-art technology. The new system also features significant capacity enhancement.

Indian Railways introduced internet-based ticketing services in 2002. Currently, approximately 88 percent of ticket bookings occur through online mediums, with most passengers preferring digital platforms over ticket counters.

The Rail Ministry stated that the 'RailOne' mobile app is rapidly gaining popularity among passengers. Launched in July 2025, the app has received over 3.5 crore downloads in less than a year.

Key features of the app include ticket booking, cancellation, refund, unreserved and platform ticket facilities, live train running status, platform and coach information, Rail Madad service, and in-seat meal delivery.

The ministry noted that an AI-based feature has been added to predict waitlisted ticket confirmations. This feature's accuracy has improved from 53 percent to 94 percent.

Nationwide, 9.29 lakh tickets are booked daily through this app, comprising 7.2 lakh unreserved and 2.09 lakh reserved tickets.

The Rail Ministry revealed that Indian Railways provided a subsidy of ₹60,239 crore on passenger fares in 2024-25, equivalent to an average 43 percent concession per passenger. This means if the service cost is ₹100, only ₹57 is collected from passengers.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar