New Delhi: Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday launched an upgraded version of the e-ticketing website of the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), which has personalised features.
Pegging it to have “best-in-class” features, the Railways offered it as a "New Year gift to passengers."
“The Railways is committed to serving the nation, and constantly working to augment its services to further improve the rail travel experience. This upgraded e-ticketing platform for booking of online Railway tickets will enhance passenger convenience,“ he said.
He said the IRCTC should continue to work towards constantly improving the website and ensure that is second to none in the world as per the digital India mission and vision of the prime minister.
In 2014, the Next Generation E-ticketing (NGeT) system was launched to provide seamless e-ticketing services - higher booking loads and better user interface, through IRCTC.
The upgraded e-ticketing website and App will provide the next level of services and experience to rail users, a statement from the ministry said.
Customer experience has been the focus for revamping the features, it said.
"The railway customer has been the focus on the design of this new world-class website for booking of rail tickets. Novel user personalisation features linked to the user login have been incorporated for the first time ever, along with customisations for seamless travel experience, one-stop train selection for booking, and integrated booking for meal and accommodation with tickets," it said.
Predictive entry suggestions using Artificial Intelligence will be given to the passenger when he is entering the station.
"This will greatly reduce the hassle in searching for stations and also save time in ticket booking. There will be simpler checking of the refund status at the user accounts page. Earlier this feature was not easily accessible. ''Regular'' or ''Favorite'' journeys can be booked easily by automatically entering relevant details," the statement said.
Train search and selection has also been simplified by putting the information on one page to reduce the time used by passengers and enhancing the booking experience.