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The Ministry of Railways has extended the booking hours for e-tickets by 15 minutes, with effect from Sunday.

Now, the system will be open for booking till 11.45 p.m. instead of from 00.30 a.m. to 11.30 p.m.

A circular issued by the Railway Board on September 18 said that as passenger reservation (PRS) counters too would function between 00.30 am and 11.45 pm, current booking counters at train originating stations would also be able to function during these hours.

The Ministry has issued necessary instructions to Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) that offers Internet ticket booking facility; the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) that manages the entire ticket booking activities of the Indian Railways and; all the zonal railways to implement the new timing without any hiccups.

A senior official with South Western Railway told The Hindu that initially, passengers were able to book tickets round-the-clock.

However, the CRIS found it difficult to manage and maintain the system without there being any break and hence an one-hour break was introduced.

However, the Ministry has felt that passengers should not be inconvenienced much and hence has attempted to reduce the ‘down’ time of the system by 15 minutes, the official said.

Welcoming the extension of booking hours, K.N. Krishnaprasad, a retired government officer, said that the timing should further be extended.

He wondered when airlines could offer ticket bookings round-the-clock, it should not be an issue for the Indian Railways to revert to the 24-hour booking module.

Nevertheless, the 15 minute extension would greatly benefit general public, particularly those who book tickets during late hours, Mr. Krishnaprasad said.

Existing internet ticket booking hours are from 00.30 a.m. to 11.30 p.m.

Functioning of PRS counters as well as current booking counters too to be changed