Railways to release list of confirmed ticket holders eight hours ahead of departure

The Indian Railways will release the first list of confirmed ticket holders eight hours ahead of train departure. An official statement said this will ensure better predictability for waitlisted passengers.

A Modern Passenger Reservation System (PRS) will also be operational by December 2025. The new PRS will allow over 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute, roughly five times more than the current limit. The per minute ticket enquiry capacity will also jump ten times, from 4 lakh to over 40 lakh.

Currently, the reservation chart is prepared four hours before the departure of the train, creating uncertainty in the minds of waitlisted passengers.

Addressing these concerns, the railway board has proposed preparing the reservation chart eight hours before the departure. This means for trains departing before 1400 hours, the chart will be prepared the previous day at 2100 hrs itself.

“It will benefit passengers travelling from remote locations or suburbs of major cities for catching long distance trains. This will also provide more time to make alternative arrangements in case the wait list is not confirmed,” the statement said.

These measures will be taken in addition to enforcing authentication for Tatkal bookings. The Indian Railways will allow only authenticated users to book Tatkal tickets on IRCTC website and mobile app from coming Tuesday (July 1, 2025).

One Time Password-based authentication will be implemented for Tatkal bookings by the end of next month, the statement added.