This Is How Passengers Used To Book Train Tickets Before Computerised System

Train journeys have become so seamless these days as the passengers can book tickets from the comfort of their homes in just a few clicks. Online booking of train tickets has made life easy for all of us. Though Indian Railways has come a long way in offering the best possible services to passengers when it comes to booking train tickets, it used to be a quite challenging task to book a ticket in the pre-computers era.

It will be interesting to know how the train ticketing system in India has evolved over the years.

Indian Railways started operations almost 170 years ago. With the changing and advanced technology, many changes were also seen in the railways. This includes from making toilets in trains and installing sleeper coaches to now introducing bullet trains. Meanwhile, about 37 years ago, the Indian Railways made a revolutionary change in booking train tickets. After this, the long queues at the ticket window started getting smaller. People now get the train tickets easily and quickly. This change took place in 1986.

In 1985, a pilot project for computerised tickets was started. It was implemented fully in 1986 and the first computerised ticket was given to a passenger that year. It was launched at New Delhi Railway Station.

Today the Passenger Reservation System (PRS) of Indian Railways is the largest reservation network in the world. You can book railway tickets from 8074 windows at about 2022 places. However, now it is also changing rapidly and people are moving towards online ticket booking.

Booking tickets earlier

Earlier the ticket used to be manually at the ticket windows at railway stations. The employee sitting at the ticket counter used to see the number of vacant seats present in the trains and then booked tickets accordingly. It was a tiresome process. It used to be one of tough tasks to book a train ticket. Even after hours of waiting in long queues outside the ticket window it was not sure whether you will get a confirmed ticket.

The tickets used to be printed on small pieces of paper like cardboard. However, the Rajdhani Express tickets were almost the same as today’s ticket.

Tickets used to be delivered at home

Almost two decades after the success of the experiment of giving computerised tickets through windows at stations, Indian Railways introduced the I-Ticket facility. I-ticket booking was started in 2002 via the IRCTC website. Passengers used to book tickets on the website and then IRCTC used to send that ticket through courier to their homes. However, a few years later, in 2005, e-ticket booking started, which is continuing till date.

Difference between I-Ticket and E-Ticket

In I-Ticket, a physical ticket i.e. the ticket you get from the counter is delivered to your home. However, when you are booking the e-ticket from the IRCTC website, you can take a print out of the same and travel in the train. However, due to some discrepancy, if the seat number of the e-ticket clashes with the seat number of a passenger who has a physical ticket, then that seat is allotted to the person who has a counter ticket.

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Train journeys have become so seamless these days as the passengers can book tickets from the comfort of their homes in just a few clicks. Online booking of train tickets has made life easy for all of us. Though Indian Railways has come a long way in offering the best possible services to passengers when it comes to booking train tickets, it used to be a quite challenging task to book a ticket in the pre-computers era.

It will be interesting to know how the train ticketing system in India has evolved over the years.

Indian Railways started operations almost 170 years ago. With the changing and advanced technology, many changes were also seen in the railways. This includes from making toilets in trains and installing sleeper coaches to now introducing bullet trains. Meanwhile, about 37 years ago, the Indian Railways made a revolutionary change in booking train tickets. After this, the long queues at the ticket window started getting smaller. People now get the train tickets easily and quickly. This change took place in 1986.

In 1985, a pilot project for computerised tickets was started. It was implemented fully in 1986 and the first computerised ticket was given to a passenger that year. It was launched at New Delhi Railway Station.

Today the Passenger Reservation System (PRS) of Indian Railways is the largest reservation network in the world. You can book railway tickets from 8074 windows at about 2022 places. However, now it is also changing rapidly and people are moving towards online ticket booking.

Booking tickets earlier

Earlier the ticket used to be manually at the ticket windows at railway stations. The employee sitting at the ticket counter used to see the number of vacant seats present in the trains and then booked tickets accordingly. It was a tiresome process. It used to be one of tough tasks to book a train ticket. Even after hours of waiting in long queues outside the ticket window it was not sure whether you will get a confirmed ticket.

The tickets used to be printed on small pieces of paper like cardboard. However, the Rajdhani Express tickets were almost the same as today’s ticket.

Tickets used to be delivered at home

Almost two decades after the success of the experiment of giving computerised tickets through windows at stations, Indian Railways introduced the I-Ticket facility. I-ticket booking was started in 2002 via the IRCTC website. Passengers used to book tickets on the website and then IRCTC used to send that ticket through courier to their homes. However, a few years later, in 2005, e-ticket booking started, which is continuing till date.

Difference between I-Ticket and E-Ticket

In I-Ticket, a physical ticket i.e. the ticket you get from the counter is delivered to your home. However, when you are booking the e-ticket from the IRCTC website, you can take a print out of the same and travel in the train. However, due to some discrepancy, if the seat number of the e-ticket clashes with the seat number of a passenger who has a physical ticket, then that seat is allotted to the person who has a counter ticket.

Read all the Latest Auto News here