Indian Railways To Develop Online System Making Train Occupancy Data Public, Minister Piyush Goyal Asks Officials 

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, in light of the hardship faced by passengers to get a reserved ticket, has asked ministry officials to evolve a system, on the lines of air-ticket booking mechanism, to enable people to know the details of the vacant seats or berths in the train, reports Times of India.

The railway board got instructions from minister to develop a system in its reservation software to make occupancy data of trains transparent to public.

Goyal reportedly received complaints that often commuters are unable to know how many seats are vacant after the final reservation chart is prepared. They have to depend on the travelling ticket examiner (TTE) for the information resulting in confusion.

According to the TOI report, the ministry would take up the issue with Central Rail Information System (CRIS) to look for avenues so that passengers could get the real-time status of seats available for booking, TOI report quoted sources as saying.

The railways will also see if it can make the reservation chart available on mobile and other platforms. However, the table would only contain PNR numbers to ensure the privacy of passengers.

The real-time updating process would, however, be challenging, according to the railway officials, as trains have multiple stops and passengers would board and de-board at different stations.