IRCTC to launch a new website: Updated features; what it won't have

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) is likely to launch a new website for ticket booking today. Certain media reports indicate that the launch is likely to be delayed to August, but passengers are excited that the new site will have many updated features. The website will have many features aimed at everyday travellers, like the ability to pick a seat of preference, comparison of ticket prices across various dates before booking, the ability to toggle availability of seats across all seats on a single screen, the feature to handle multiple Indian languages and book tickets for differently-abled (divyangan) passengers, patients, students and groups on one integrated platform.

The new platform will be able to handle around 1.5 lakh ticket bookings every minute. This is five times the current capacity, which can handle around 30,000 bookings per minute. The Passenger Reservation System (PRS) will now be able to handle over 40 lakh enquiries per minute, up from the current capacity of over 4 lakh.

The updated features at a glance
a) Select preferred seats directly while booking
b) Compare ticket prices on various dates
c) Service available in multiple Indian languages
d) Facility for divyangan passengers, patients and students to book tickets on the same platform.

Where to access the new website
The new website can be accessed directly on the official IRCTC platform. Passengers don't have to look for any 'switch' buttons or hidden links. The new site will automatically be available at the exact web address of the existing site. If encountering issues, passengers can try clearing their browser cache or updating their mobile app.

What the new site avoids
Here are a few features that the new website will not replicate from the old version:
a) Unnecessary pop-ups
b) Flashing banners
c) Repeated CAPTCHA checks
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