The Wait Is Over: A New Railway Algorithm Can Now ‘Predict’ How Good The Chances Of A Confirmed Ticket Are

Thanks to a ‘predictive’ service of the Indian Railways, passengers on the wait-list will be able to know how good their chances of getting confirmed tickets are, a report in The Hindu said.

The service extended by the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website will begin on Friday when the new, refurbished IRCTC website goes live. A new algorithm developed by the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) can forecast the chances of a wait-listed or an reservation against cancellation or RAC ticket getting confirmed on the basis of booking trends.

“We will mine our own data of passenger operations and booking patterns for the first time,” a senior Railway Ministry official said. The algorithm will take into account last 13 years’ data to put together a “robust, workable model”, railway officials said, adding, while private players have employed ‘predictions’ model, the railways has the edge as it has the database of the transporter.

A user need not even log in to the new website to search for trains and check on availability of seats, while the older version only allowed access to the registered users. The user can also cancel bookings, print and request for an SMS, select an alternative train through the “Vikalp” option and changing the boarding point, if required.

“While booking tickets, separate cards for each passenger have been provided to fill in their details. Pre-filled particulars will ensure a quick booking experience. The user can manage the payment options by marking six banks as preferred banks under the ‘My Profile’ section,” an official said.

Nearly 13 lakh tickets are booked on the IRCTC website every day against a reserved accommodation of 10.5 lakh berths, the officials said. Installing the predictive service on the IRCTC website was the brainchild of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal, who had set a one-year deadline last year to complete the process, they said.