Indian Railway News: Indian Railways’ online ticket booking service, IRCTC, has set a new record for bookings in a single day, surpassing 2 million tickets. According to IRCTC, a total of 20,06,353 tickets were booked on September 7, 2026. The increase in bookings under the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) during the festive season is cited as a major reason for this record. A day earlier, on September 8, nearly 19.50 lakh tickets were booked.
Last year’s record was also broken.
According to IRCTC, last year’s highest number of tickets booked in a single day was approximately 18.40 lakh. This time, the figure surpassed 20 lakh, setting a new record. According to the Railways, the reach of online ticket booking is continuously increasing, and passengers are now preferring to book tickets online more than before.
89% of reserved tickets are booked online
According to IRCTC data, only about 11% of reserved tickets are now booked offline, while 89% are booked online. This clearly demonstrates the rapid growth of online ticket booking among passengers.
New Servers Increase System Capacity
IRCTC states that to strengthen the ticket booking system, old servers have been replaced with new ones. The changes made under NGet Refresh claim to nearly double the system’s capacity. A new beta interface has also been launched on July 15, 2026. Seat availability in Sleeper, AC 3-Tier, and AC 2-Tier classes is displayed on a single screen, making ticket booking easier for passengers.
BOT Traffic Also Curbed
According to IRCTC, anti-bot and CDN technologies are being used in the system. This has reduced BOT traffic by approximately 55-65 per cent. Action is also being taken against fake websites and apps.
New Rules for Agent Bookings
According to IRCTC, authorised agents such as YTSK and RTSA cannot book ARP tickets between 8:00 AM and 8:10 AM. Furthermore, from October 12, 2025, Aadhaar-verified users will be required to book tickets at the opening ARP window.
Action Against Fake IDs
IRCTC has also taken action against fake user IDs to prevent fraudulent ticket bookings. IRCTC claims that 30.4 million user IDs have been deactivated so far, while 63.3 million IDs have been sent for re-validation. Additionally, 16,041 suspicious email domains have been blocked. IRCTC says that the impact of these technical changes and action against fraudulent bookings is now visible in the efficiency and speed of the ticket booking system.
