'Launch By July 15': Students Flag IRCTC Tatkal Booking Woes; What Rail Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw Did Next Goes Viral

New Delhi: A routine interaction between Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and students at the Malaviya National Institute of Technology (MNIT) in Jaipur turned into a discussion on one of the most common frustrations faced by train travellers while booking tickets on the IRCTC website.

Responding to complaints about slow loading times, website crashes and CAPTCHA-related issues during Tatkal bookings, Vaishnaw announced that a revamped IRCTC website would be launched by July 15.

The announcement came after students directly urged the minister to address the long-standing problems faced by users on the railway ticketing platform.

Student's Complaint Prompts Response

A video of the interaction, which has since gone viral on social media, shows a girl raising concerns about difficulties faced while booking tickets on IRCTC.

"Sir, please solve the problem of the IRCTC captcha," the student can be heard telling the minister.

Following which Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw immediately contacted a senior official associated with the platform and conveyed the students' demand for a new and improved website.

In the viral clip, the minister was heard saying, "Students are demanding that there should be a new IRCTC website."

He then asked the official whether a new version of the website could be developed within 30 days.

After receiving a response, Vaishnaw turned to the students and announced, “New IRCTC website to launch by July 15.”

The statement was met with applause and cheers from the audience.

The move comes amid years of complaints by users as for millions of Indians who depend on the platform to book train tickets, these issues have often led to missed bookings despite being logged in on time.

Users have frequently reported issues such as:

• Slow website loading
• Session timeouts
• Server crashes during peak traffic
• CAPTCHA verification problems
• Failed payment transactions

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