IRCTC website suffers major outage during tatkal ticket bookings

IRCTC's website experienced a crash this morning that coincided with the peak time for Tatkal ticket bookings. Users visiting the site for booking saw a message indicating that maintenance work was underway, which would prevent any bookings for the next hour.

Many users reported issues on social media, with several registering complaints on Downdetector, a platform that tracks service disruptions. About half of the users were currently unable to use the website, while 40 percent faced problems with the app, and 10 percent complained of not being able to book tickets at all.

The problems apparently started around 10 AM, with many users having trouble accessing the IRCTC platform. Passengers have reported several issues, including not being able to log into their accounts, encountering errors when looking for train schedules or ticket prices, and having difficulty completing their ticket bookings.

In its downtime message, IRCTC stated, "Due to maintenance activity, the e-ticketing service will not be available for the next hour. Please try again later. For cancellations or filing a TDR, please call customer care at 14646, 0755-6610661, or 0755-4090600, or email us at etckets@irctc.co.in."

In other news, the Indian Railways has introduced a new service that allows passengers to change their boarding station up to four hours before their train is set to leave. Previously, this change needed to be made at least 24 hours in advance. This update aims to make travel easier and more convenient for passengers.