Patna: Railway Board has decided to soon implement advanced charting of wait-listed tickets.“Currently, the reservation chart is prepared four hours before the departure of the train. This creates uncertainty in the minds of passengers. To remove this uncertainty, the railway ministry has decided preparing the reservation chart eight hours before the departure,” a communique issued by the ministry of railways said on Sunday.Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw recently reviewed the progress of a series of steps being taken by the railways to make ticket booking easier. He emphasised that the ticketing system should be smart, transparent, accessible and efficient. Planning should focus on passenger convenience. The system must ensure a smooth and comfortable travel experience to passengers.“For trains departing before 14.00 hours, the chart will be prepared the previous day at 21.00 hours itself. The railway minister agreed with this proposal and directed the railway board to start implementing this in phases so that there is no disruption,” the communique said. “This decision will reduce uncertainties for passengers with wait list tickets. The passengers will get the first update on wait list status well in advance. It will benefit passengers travelling from remote locations or suburbs of major cities for catching long distance trains. It will also provide more time to make alternative arrangements in case the wait list is not confirmed,” the ministry said.The railway minister also reviewed the upgrade of the passenger reservation system (PRS). “The new PRS will allow over 1.5 lakh ticket bookings per minute. This will be an increase of roughly five times from 32,000 tickets per minute in the current PRS,” the ministry said.
