IRCTC logs record 20 lakh ticket bookings in a day ahead of festive season

The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has recorded its highest-ever single-day ticket sales, with bookings crossing the 20-lakh mark for the first time as demand builds ahead of the festive season.

A total of 20,06,353 tickets were booked on September 7, an all-time high for the official railway ticketing platform. The momentum carried into the next day, with 19,50,699 tickets booked on September 8 — about 6% more than last year's festive single-day peak of 18,40,203 tickets.

Infrastructure upgrades

Roughly 89% of all reserved railway tickets are now booked online, according to IRCTC. To absorb the festive load and prevent platform failures, the corporation deployed new servers that nearly doubled the capacity of its online reservation system.

A revamped website and user interface, launched on 15 July 2026, allows passengers to check seat availability across multiple travel classes on a single screen, easing the booking experience during high-demand windows. The platform reported no major glitches or outages despite the unprecedented volumes.

Bots and fraudulent accounts curbed

IRCTC has stepped up action against unauthorised ticketing agents and automated bots that corner inventory during peak hours. Its anti-bot system has cut suspicious automated traffic by 55% to 65%, the corporation said.

To protect access for genuine passengers, authorised ticketing agents are barred from booking during the first ten minutes after reservations open, between 8:00 AM and 8:10 AM. Aadhaar verification has also been made mandatory for individual users booking as soon as the reservation window opens.

In a sweeping audit of fraudulent activity, IRCTC has deactivated 3.04 crore user accounts and flagged another 6.33 crore IDs for mandatory re-verification.

Third-party channels hold 28% share

Third-party digital platforms, including Paytm, MakeMyTrip, ixigo and ConfirmTkt, account for nearly 28% of all online railway tickets booked in India, according to IRCTC Chairman and Managing Director Rahul Himalian.

Of the 18 lakh to 19 lakh tickets issued daily, about 89% — roughly 14.88 lakh to 15 lakh tickets — are booked online through IRCTC, he said. Within that online pool, the IRCTC Rail Connect app accounts for 53% of bookings, third-party business associates 28%, the official IRCTC website 17%, and government arrangements about 2%.

Himalian said the business-associate share flows through B2C, B2B and ICS channels operated by partners such as MakeMyTrip, Paytm, ixigo and ConfirmTkt. IRCTC has not released a platform-specific breakdown within the private channel, so the 28% figure represents an aggregate across all authorised business associates.