Indian Railway News: IRCTC sets a new record with over 20 lakh tickets booked in a single day; find out how this feat was achieved..
Indian Railway News: IRCTC, the online ticket booking service of Indian Railways, has set a new record by booking over 20 lakh (2 million) tickets in a single day. According to IRCTC, a total of 2,006,353 tickets were booked on September 7, 2026. The surge in bookings under the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) during the festive season is cited as the primary reason for this record. Even on the preceding day, September 8, approximately 19.50 lakh tickets were booked.
**Last Year's Record Broken**
According to IRCTC, the previous record for the highest number of tickets booked in a single day was around 18.40 lakh. This time, the figure has crossed the 20-lakh mark, establishing a new record. Railways state that the scope of online ticket booking is continuously expanding, and passengers now prefer booking tickets via the internet compared to the past.
**89% of Reserved Tickets Booked Online**
IRCTC data reveals that only about 11% of reserved tickets are currently being booked offline, while 89% are booked online. This clearly indicates a rapid rise in online ticket booking among passengers.
**System Capacity Boosted by New Servers**
IRCTC states that old servers have been replaced with new ones to strengthen the ticket booking system. Changes implemented under 'NGet Refresh' are claimed to have nearly doubled the system's capacity. Additionally, a new beta interface was launched on July 15, 2026; this allows passengers to view seat availability across categories like Sleeper, AC 3-Tier, and AC 2-Tier on a single screen, making the booking process easier.
**Curbing BOT Traffic**
According to IRCTC, Anti-BOT and CDN technologies are being employed within the system. This has resulted in a reduction of BOT traffic by approximately 55% to 65%. Concurrently, action is being taken against fraudulent websites and apps. New Rules for Agent Bookings
According to IRCTC, authorized agents—such as YTSK and RTSA—cannot book tickets during the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) window between 8:00 AM and 8:10 AM. Additionally, starting October 12, 2025, it has been made mandatory to be an Aadhaar-verified user to book tickets during the opening ARP window.
Action Against Fake IDs
IRCTC has also taken action against fake user IDs to curb the irregular booking of tickets. According to IRCTC, 3.04 crore user IDs have been deactivated so far, while 6.33 crore IDs have been sent for re-validation. Furthermore, 16,041 suspicious email domains have been blocked. IRCTC states that the impact of these technical changes and the crackdown on fraudulent bookings is now evident in the improved capacity and speed of the ticket booking system.
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