The Ministry of Railways has launched the beta version of the redesigned IRCTC website, offering passengers a faster, simpler, and more user-friendly online ticket booking experience. The new portal became available at 9 pm through the existing IRCTC website and is currently open for public testing before its full-scale rollout.

Railway officials said the beta launch is aimed at collecting user feedback to further improve the platform before the final version is released.

New Features Designed to Improve Booking Experience

The revamped IRCTC website introduces several upgrades to make ticket booking quicker and more convenient. Among the key improvements are the removal of unnecessary captchas, pop-ups, flashing graphics, and other distracting elements that often slowed down the booking process.

Passengers can now view seat availability across all travel classes on a single screen, making it easier to compare options before confirming a reservation.

Faster Checkout and Saved Passenger Details

The new platform also offers a streamlined checkout process with fewer booking steps, reducing the time required to complete reservations.

In addition, users can save passenger details for future bookings, allowing repeat customers to book tickets more quickly without entering the same information repeatedly.

Student Suggestions Helped Shape the New Design

According to the Ministry of Railways, the redesigned portal incorporates suggestions provided by students of the Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT), Jaipur, who shared ideas with Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on improving the website's usability and design.

The ministry said the collaborative approach helped create a cleaner interface focused on ease of use.

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Full Rollout Planned After Reservation System Upgrade

The beta website will eventually be integrated with the upgraded Passenger Reservation Engine (PRE), which powers railway ticket bookings across multiple platforms. The government expects the fully functional version to be launched in the coming weeks once the upgraded reservation engine is ready.

Railways has encouraged users to explore the beta portal and submit feedback that will help refine the website before its nationwide rollout.