Indian railway
It is absolutely shocking how poorly Indian Railways and IRCTC are managed in this digital age. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram serve millions of people worldwide without constantly crashing, yet IRCTC’s website and mobile app struggle to provide even a smooth and reliable booking experience. For a country as large as India, this level of mismanagement is simply unacceptable.
Tatkal ticket booking has become a frustrating and unfair experience. Tickets sell out within seconds, often before ordinary passengers even have a fair chance to complete their bookings. This raises serious concerns about transparency, the booking system, and the possibility of agents gaining an unfair advantage over regular passengers.
The food served on trains is another major disappointment. Passengers are charged considerable amounts, yet the quality of the food is often extremely poor. Paying more should mean receiving decent food and proper service, not being forced to accept substandard meals. Railway passengers deserve better hygiene, better food quality, and accountable service.
The RAC system also raises legitimate questions. If two passengers share a berth, why should both be charged the full fare while neither initially receives a full berth exclusively? Indian Railways needs to explain this system clearly and ensure that passengers receive fair value for the money they pay.
The waiting list system is equally frustrating. Passengers often plan their entire journeys around the hope that their tickets will get confirmed. They remain uncertain until the last moment, making it difficult to arrange alternative travel or plan important commitments. A system that leaves passengers in such uncertainty needs greater transparency, clearer information, and better alternatives.
Another serious concern is train delays. When passengers pay for a service, they reasonably expect it to operate according to its schedule. If a train is significantly delayed due to railway management failures, passengers should receive appropriate compensation or refunds under a fair and transparent policy. Why should ordinary citizens bear the cost of poor management when the delay is beyond their control?
Indian Railways is not a free service. Passengers pay for their tickets, food, and other facilities. They deserve reliable technology, fair booking opportunities, clean and decent food, proper customer service, transparent ticketing policies, and accountability for delays.
The biggest problem is not merely that things go wrong. It is that passengers are repeatedly expected to tolerate these failures despite paying for the service.
Indian Railways is one of the largest railway networks in the world, and it should operate with the efficiency, transparency, and professionalism that such an important public service demands. Instead, passengers are frequently left frustrated by a system that appears more concerned with collecting money than ensuring customer satisfaction.
It is time for Indian Railways and IRCTC to stop taking passengers for granted and start taking responsibility for the quality of service they provide. People deserve much better than this.
Tatkal ticket booking has become a frustrating and unfair experience. Tickets sell out within seconds, often before ordinary passengers even have a fair chance to complete their bookings. This raises serious concerns about transparency, the booking system, and the possibility of agents gaining an unfair advantage over regular passengers.
The food served on trains is another major disappointment. Passengers are charged considerable amounts, yet the quality of the food is often extremely poor. Paying more should mean receiving decent food and proper service, not being forced to accept substandard meals. Railway passengers deserve better hygiene, better food quality, and accountable service.
The RAC system also raises legitimate questions. If two passengers share a berth, why should both be charged the full fare while neither initially receives a full berth exclusively? Indian Railways needs to explain this system clearly and ensure that passengers receive fair value for the money they pay.
The waiting list system is equally frustrating. Passengers often plan their entire journeys around the hope that their tickets will get confirmed. They remain uncertain until the last moment, making it difficult to arrange alternative travel or plan important commitments. A system that leaves passengers in such uncertainty needs greater transparency, clearer information, and better alternatives.
Another serious concern is train delays. When passengers pay for a service, they reasonably expect it to operate according to its schedule. If a train is significantly delayed due to railway management failures, passengers should receive appropriate compensation or refunds under a fair and transparent policy. Why should ordinary citizens bear the cost of poor management when the delay is beyond their control?
Indian Railways is not a free service. Passengers pay for their tickets, food, and other facilities. They deserve reliable technology, fair booking opportunities, clean and decent food, proper customer service, transparent ticketing policies, and accountability for delays.
The biggest problem is not merely that things go wrong. It is that passengers are repeatedly expected to tolerate these failures despite paying for the service.
Indian Railways is one of the largest railway networks in the world, and it should operate with the efficiency, transparency, and professionalism that such an important public service demands. Instead, passengers are frequently left frustrated by a system that appears more concerned with collecting money than ensuring customer satisfaction.
It is time for Indian Railways and IRCTC to stop taking passengers for granted and start taking responsibility for the quality of service they provide. People deserve much better than this.
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pathetic
Website is down, can’t register for account and can’t book also.
Such a big country and people can’t book a ticket online 🤔🤨
Such a big country and people can’t book a ticket online 🤔🤨
Doesn’t work for international users
Hard to review because it won’t allow international accounts to access the app. (How is it that they have deployed such a poor app in this day and age?!) A real shame because online booking (and checking status updates) via the app would have been very useful. Wishing the team best of luck when they develop the next version.
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Extremely slow payment verification defeats the entire purpose of Tatkal
The app completely fails during high-stakes Tatkal booking windows. I attempted to book a Tatkal ticket, and despite the money being deducted instantly from my account, the app remained stuck on the payment verification screen for over 7 minutes.
Even after waiting a total of nearly 10 minutes in processing limbo, the booking ultimately failed because the system could not verify the payment in time. By then, all Tatkal seats were long gone, and the deducted amount is now tied up waiting for a refund.
The worst part is that this isn't the first time this has happened. This exact same issue has been repeating for a long time and has unfortunately become a regular trend.
Tatkal is a matter of seconds, not minutes. An app that hangs for 7 to 10 minutes after deducting money is completely unreliable. IRCTC urgently needs to overhaul its payment gateway integration and upgrade the booking server capacity to handle real-time verification during peak rush hours. Extremely frustrating experience.
Even after waiting a total of nearly 10 minutes in processing limbo, the booking ultimately failed because the system could not verify the payment in time. By then, all Tatkal seats were long gone, and the deducted amount is now tied up waiting for a refund.
The worst part is that this isn't the first time this has happened. This exact same issue has been repeating for a long time and has unfortunately become a regular trend.
Tatkal is a matter of seconds, not minutes. An app that hangs for 7 to 10 minutes after deducting money is completely unreliable. IRCTC urgently needs to overhaul its payment gateway integration and upgrade the booking server capacity to handle real-time verification during peak rush hours. Extremely frustrating experience.
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Excellent
First time used worked perfectly even from outside India
Response from developer
Dear User, Thank you for a 5-star review! We appreciate your feedback and have noted your concern. We are continuously working to improve and look forward to serving you better in the future. Best Regards.
Pathetic App and Experience
Very disappointing experience with the IRCTC app. Tatkal booking has become extremely frustrating. The moment booking opens, the app becomes slow, pages keep loading, sessions expire, and errors appear at critical stages.
The biggest concern is senior citizens. Many passengers are above 60 years old, and not everyone is comfortable using complicated online booking systems. Some elderly people have to depend on others just to book a train ticket. When the app is slow and Tatkal tickets disappear within minutes, it becomes even more difficult for them.
How are senior citizens supposed to manage this? Not every person above 60 has someone available to book tickets for them. Some may need to travel for medical appointments, family emergencies, religious purposes, or other important reasons.
You can spend several minutes entering passenger details and completing the booking process, only to face an error or lose the ticket because of the slow response. The frustration is even worse when the passenger is elderly and has limited experience with smartphones and online booking.
Booking a train ticket should not be this stressful, especially for senior citizens who may already find the digital process difficult.
The biggest concern is senior citizens. Many passengers are above 60 years old, and not everyone is comfortable using complicated online booking systems. Some elderly people have to depend on others just to book a train ticket. When the app is slow and Tatkal tickets disappear within minutes, it becomes even more difficult for them.
How are senior citizens supposed to manage this? Not every person above 60 has someone available to book tickets for them. Some may need to travel for medical appointments, family emergencies, religious purposes, or other important reasons.
You can spend several minutes entering passenger details and completing the booking process, only to face an error or lose the ticket because of the slow response. The frustration is even worse when the passenger is elderly and has limited experience with smartphones and online booking.
Booking a train ticket should not be this stressful, especially for senior citizens who may already find the digital process difficult.
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Shame
Looks like tickets are reserved for agents and other sites from which irctc gets a big commission, a disastrous app
Most frustrating aap
IRCTC has to be one of the most frustrating and poorly designed apps ever. 😡 Every time you actually need to book a ticket, it comes up with another update, another error, or some new problem. Instead of making the booking process easier, it feels like the app is designed to test your patience.
The login itself is a nightmare—getting logged in successfully on the first attempt feels like an achievement. And when you finally manage to log in and try to book a ticket, there is always some issue waiting for you.
For an app that people depend on to book essential train tickets, this level of inconvenience is completely unacceptable. Constant updates, login failures, errors, and unnecessary hassles make the entire experience extremely frustrating.
IRCTC seriously needs to fix its app and make it actually usable. Right now, it feels less like a booking app and more like a daily exercise in frustration.
The login itself is a nightmare—getting logged in successfully on the first attempt feels like an achievement. And when you finally manage to log in and try to book a ticket, there is always some issue waiting for you.
For an app that people depend on to book essential train tickets, this level of inconvenience is completely unacceptable. Constant updates, login failures, errors, and unnecessary hassles make the entire experience extremely frustrating.
IRCTC seriously needs to fix its app and make it actually usable. Right now, it feels less like a booking app and more like a daily exercise in frustration.
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Foreign Telephone number
Why is it such a big deal to send SMS to a foreign telephone number. I signed up as a foreigner but password reset does not allow the acceptance of another country code so the SMS goes nowhere and I cannot reset my password. Really terrible. I called the international customer service numbers and they don’t work. Why was this not tested.
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Preference doesn’t work
Why put preference if you r just not gonna listen and do whatever the hell you want to do. Like never once have i ever gotten something I prefer. Then why do they have an option if you are just gonna do whatever you want. Hate the app. Whenever you try to book tatkal the app gets crowded. Like bro YouTube has lakh of people on it simultaneously but they don’t stop working. And for India’s most employing job to be working this way is shameful
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Response from developer
Dear User, we regret the inconvenience caused. To help us understand the issue better, please share a screenshot or video of the error via IRCTC’s eQuery interface (https://equery.irctc.co.in). We would be happy to assist you further. Best regards.
Much improved
Keep up the improvements
Response from developer
Thanks for your feedback. We appreciate your effort and keep supporting us.
Worst app
it’s a the mirror image of how efficient govt are!!
Its SHAMEFUL to call this an official app(iOS)
Pretty sure they paid equivalent of smaller country economy to get an app done by a 2nd year college student.
Response from developer
We deeply regret the inconvenience caused. This is not what we desire for you to experience. Kindly retry with the latest version of app available at the App Store wherein major mentioned issues have been fixed. If the issue still persists, kindly share the issue to https://equery.irctc.co.in/, so as to analyze and assist further.
Booked one way ticket and for the second one logged me out that as access access denied for Canada
Pathetic experience
Book train tickets
Always very useful and trustable
Very easy to use
Very easy to use
Improvements are impressive
I have been using the app for more than 15 years and recent improvement are the best. I am very impressed . Keep up the progress. Please think about allowing automatic top up to IRCTC wallet as the balance drops to preset level through UPI or Debit credit card mandates. Thank you for your consideration
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Response from developer
Thanks for your feedback. We appreciate your effort and keep supporting us.
Poor app update - completely broken
Update this morning (06/Aug/2026) has completely broken the already clunky app. Now, on launch, it throws an error “Unable to process request”.
Before this update it was barely usable but at least the basic functions worked - now, however, it doesn’t even do that ☹️
Before this update it was barely usable but at least the basic functions worked - now, however, it doesn’t even do that ☹️
Terrible
Trying to book a train on line is a nightmare
Not functioning
I installed the app and tried logging in and whenever i tried app closes itself.
An update just broke the app
Now I get “Unable to process request” when I open the app.
