I hate buying stuff online, rail tickets included. I’d rather stand in line to the ticket window and argue with a human being. But that is becoming rare, as my husband loves the Internet, and therefore is in charge of bookings. But when there was this brouhaha about IRCTC’s new website, I tucked my pallu around my waist and decided to try my luck. I tried thrice, and each time I got ‘Sorry Please Try Again’ with many exclamation marks. The message accused me, unfairly, of trying to open the URL in a new tab; using the back/forward/refresh button of my browser; double-clicking on any options/buttons or keeping the browser window idle for a long time. But I had done none of the above. So, I threw my hands up and asked my betters to try the new website and give me a feedback.
“I tried booking a mock ticket. And it was way smoother a process than before,” says a friend, who spends a good part of her days booking and cancelling rail tickets for her near and dear ones. She gloomily tells me that roughly she books at least 10 tickets a month, and in the last four months, she has cancelled four tickets. “But the new website is faster than the app,” she perks up, and offers to give her list of things she loves and hates in the new website.
Love
- The day/night indication for travel is super cute.
- Mentioning the total cost on the side is a happy new option, as is the option to check earliest next availability.
- Loved the fact that the list of saved passengers has migrated from the old site to the new (the app does not have this feature).
- It is much faster.
Hate
- The huge ad that covers the screen. (To give you an example, ‘The Path to US Immigration through Investment’ flashes across the map of the US, while the IRCTC logo apologetically occupies the top right hand corner.) From experience, I know senior citizens invariably end up clicking on the ad instead. That is a nuisance.
- Confused why in the senior citizen option it asks if one wants the 50% discount. Why would anyone say no?
- Wish the interface was clearer, a page that allows you to see all at one shot.
For R Srinivasan, the new IRCTC website is slow in opening, but looks un-cluttered and pleasing. As he tries to book 13 tickets from Coonoor to Ooty for a group of his wife’s friends, his affection for the website dims somewhat. He has never booked so many tickets together at one go, and he learns that one can book only six tickets on the same PNR. But he appreciates the fact that the website gives you the ETD/ETA and journey hours for the train, along with the fare and availability. A big improvement is the section for travellers with special needs. It comes under the ‘Divyaang’ window. For some reason, journalists are a part of that very same window.
For G Krishnan, the frequent use of Hindi words is irritating. “I don’t know what Divyaang is! Does it mean handicapped or people with special needs? If it is, why not say so? Is everyone supposed to know Hindi?”
Other than that, he too finds the big ad a nuisance. “The listing is elaborate, but I wish the type size were bigger. On the plus side, the listing changes in real time when you adjust the departure and arrival slide button, deleting trains that don’t fit the timings. The listing shows the frequency of the train in words (departs all days/departs only on Fri) unlike the earlier one which had M T W TH F S Su in columns.”
Chitra Andrade’s father was in the Railways and she is quick to jump to the defence of the website. “It allows so many options. It gives refunds in record time if one cancels, the ticketing is prompt. The Railways have improved the whole online experience at intervals. Maybe, now there is a huge overhaul with some policy decisions that makes it easier for genuine travellers rather than touts who block the system.”
In the meanwhile, Srinivasan has succeeded in booking the rest of the 13 tickets. He booked six more from the old website and then waited and booked the remaining one later.