New Initiatives in Indian Railways for Improved Efficiency and Passenger Experience
PATNA, Bihar, India – July 4, 2025: Indian Railways is undergoing a complete metamorphosis, introducing major reforms to improve convenience for passengers significantly, to increase the efficiency of the operation, and to modernize the huge network. Many of the changes have started to take effect this month in regard to ticketing, infrastructure, safety, and service delivery overall, representing a concerted shift toward more customer-centricity and technology.
Overhaul of Ticketing and Passenger System
The Passenger Reservation System (PRS) is an area of reform at a very extensive level. A number of very important changes start taking effect with effect from July 1, 2025. By now, reservation charts are being prepared eight hours prior to train departure, extending the previous narrow four-hour time window. Thus, waitlisted passengers will be provided additional breathing time to rethink their alternative travel options if unconfirmed tickets are issued. Hopeful passengers scheduled to travel by train before 2 PM will find final charts displayed well in advance—at 9 PM on the previous day.
In addition, with regard to booking a ticket, the Tatkal reservations would only be verified using Aadhaar or DigiLocker verification for verified users. OTP-based authentication is also to be implemented for Tatkal bookings at the end of July to curb agent-bot misuse. Furthermore, the authorized agents are now restricted from making bookings at prime Tatkal hours (for AC classes: 10:00 AM – 10:30 AM; non-AC classes: 11:00 AM – 11:30 AM).
Indian Railways is also in the process of implementing a new high-capacity PRS designed by CRIS (Centre for Railway Information Systems), which is expected to be operational by December 2025. With this transformed setup, it receives 150,000 reservations and 4 million inquiries per minute—since it is supposed to boost those capacities fivefold and tenfold, respectively, compared with the present capacity from the earlier version that could handle only 30,000 reservations in a minute. A multilingual, user-friendly interface will be included with an option for seat preference and dedicated facilities for Divyangjan, students, and patients.
Fare Adjustments and Digital Initiatives
Read Also: Tribal Students Set Surya Namaskar Record for Yoga Day in Vizag
A small increase in railway fares across all possible categories, effective July 1, 2025, has been announced by Indian Railways in a bid to ensure service viability while also simplifying the fare calculation processes. Apart from this, fare levels for suburban travel and season tickets remain unchanged.
Indian Railways also recently launched the RailOne mobile application on July 1, 2025, in an effort to consolidate digital services. With this application, passengers may be able to easily book tickets, monitor trains in real-time, find out about their coach positions, order food from IRCTC-approved vendors, and contact the built-in grievance redress system (Rail Madad). The application also supports many local languages and adds R-Wallet as a payment option.
Infrastructure Modernization and Safety Enhancements
Indian Railways continues to pursue its aggressive financial modernization drive. A big milestone reached in this exercise is the near completion of the Dedicated Freight Corridors (DFCs). The thirteen hundred thirty-seven-kilometer Eastern Dedicated Freight Corridor (EDFC) from Ludhiana to Sonnagar and the fifteen hundred six-kilometer Western Dedicated Freight Corridor (WDFC) from JNPT to Dadri are already 96.4% fully commissioned and operational. The remaining stretch of WDFC will be operational by December 2025. These have reduced the transit times for freight, decongested the passenger lines, and improved the overall efficiency of logistics.
As of now, safety is also prioritized under the ongoing implementation of Kavach: the National Automatic Train Protection (ATP) system. Deployment is in fast mode on the crucial routes, with over 9000 technicians trained and invited to tender for trackside works for about 15,000 route kilometers of major corridors. All unmanned level crossings constructed on broad gauge have been eliminated and phased out of the manned crossings through the construction of road over bridges (ROBs) and road under bridges (RUBs).
Many stations in Number also stand to benefit from the Amrit Bharat Station scheme, which progresses in train station redevelopment from 1,337 to world-class standards. The modernization of trains, such as the Vande Bharat, Amrit Bharat, and Namo Bharat Rapid Rail, mainly focuses on improving passengers’ comfort and portability and reducing their travel times. Furthermore, India is moving towards total electrification of the rail network with a view towards net carbon neutrality emissions before 2030.
Future Outlook and Vision
Read Also: International Yoga Day 2025: PM Modi Leads Visakhapatnam Event
These reforms are part of a much larger vision of making Indian Railways “smart and transparent, accessible and efficient.” These projects are paving the way for major changes in rail travel and freight movement across the country with respect to national economic growth objectives through the combination of continuous infrastructure expansion, adoption of technology, and streamlining of processes.
