Archive · 12 Sep 2026
IRCTC Records First 20-Lakh Ticket Booking Day
IRCTC is the main online system used to book many Indian train tickets.
It sold more than 20 lakh tickets in one day for the first time on September 7.
Ticket sales stayed very high the next day too.
The increase happened before the busy festive travel season.
IRCTC added servers so its website could handle more users.
The service did not have any major technical problems during the record demand.
It also used tools to block bots and suspicious accounts.
Other companies, such as Paytm and MakeMyTrip, help sell about 28% of online railway tickets.
IRCTC booked a record 20,06,353 tickets on September 7, its first day above 20 lakh.
Bookings remained high on September 8 at 19,50,699, up 6% from last year’s festive peak.
IRCTC nearly doubled online reservation capacity with new servers and reported no major outages.
Anti-bot measures reduced suspicious automated traffic by 55% to 65%, while agents face a 10-minute booking restriction.
Third-party platforms account for about 28% of online railway ticket bookings, according to IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director Rahul Himalian.
- Who
- The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), passengers, authorised ticketing agents, and third-party booking platforms were involved.
- What
- IRCTC recorded a single-day record of 20,06,353 railway tickets booked.
- When
- The record was set on September 7, with 19,50,699 tickets booked on September 8; the article also says IRCTC launched its new website on July 15, 2026.
- Where
- The bookings occurred through India’s online railway reservation system and its authorised partner platforms.
- Why
- Demand increased ahead of the festive season, prompting IRCTC to expand capacity and strengthen measures against bots and fraudulent accounts.
- Record bookings
- 20,06,353 tickets were booked on September 7.
- Following-day bookings
- 19,50,699 tickets were booked on September 8.
- Online share
- About 89% of reserved railway tickets are booked online.
- Capacity upgrade
- IRCTC deployed new servers, nearly doubling online reservation capacity.
- Anti-bot result
- Suspicious automated traffic fell by 55% to 65% after advanced anti-bot measures were introduced.
- Account action
- IRCTC deactivated 3.04 crore accounts and flagged 6.33 crore IDs for re-verification.
- Third-party share
- Authorised third-party platforms account for about 28% of online railway ticket bookings.