Indian Railways is preparing to introduce a series of reforms aimed at enhancing operational efficiency, improving ticketing transparency, and strengthening freight movement, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw announced on Tuesday.
Addressing a press conference, the minister indicated that nearly five key reforms will be unveiled shortly as part of a broader strategy to modernise the railway network and elevate passenger services. These measures are expected to address long-standing challenges in reservation systems, logistics, and infrastructure quality.
A significant change under consideration relates to ticket cancellation policies. As per the proposed norms, confirmed train tickets cancelled less than eight hours before departure will no longer be eligible for refunds. The move is aimed at discouraging last-minute cancellations, improving seat availability, and ensuring greater transparency within the reservation system.
In addition to ticketing reforms, the government is also focusing on streamlining freight operations, particularly in sectors such as salt and automobile transportation. Efforts are underway to improve the quality and execution of railway construction projects, reflecting a wider push towards infrastructure modernisation.
Passenger convenience remains a key focus area. Under the revised rules, travellers will be allowed to change their boarding station up to 30 minutes prior to the train’s departure, offering greater flexibility. Furthermore, Aadhaar-based OTP authentication has been introduced for Tatkal bookings to enhance verification processes and curb misuse.
To strengthen the integrity of the ticketing platform, authorities have also deployed anti-bot mechanisms, resulting in the deactivation of nearly three crore suspicious or inactive user accounts.
Officials emphasise that these reforms are designed to improve efficiency, enhance passenger experience, and reduce irregularities across the railway booking and operational ecosystem.
.png)
The opinions posted here do not belong to 🔰www.indiansdaily.com. The author is solely responsible for the opinions.
As per the IT policy of the Central Government, insults against an individual, community, religion or country, defamatory and inflammatory remarks, obscene and vulgar language are punishable offenses. Legal action will be taken for such expressions of opinion.