On Tuesday, several passengers faced difficulties in booking train tickets, according to the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website and mobile application.
People Unable To Login
According to The Economic Times, the users reported that in the morning when they tried to log in or attempted to complete the bookings, they failed. Many passengers complained about payment failures and highlighted error messages on the social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
Downdetector Confirms IRCTC Delay
Downdetector, an independent outage tracking platform also showed spike in reports of IRCTC being down during the day. This confirmed the widespread disruption. People have not received any official update about the outage so far, this has left many travelers unable to secure tickets for upcoming journeys.
@IRCTCofficial Trying to book tickets for 18/10/25 (Diwali). Till 7:59am site works fine, but at 8:00am it slows, sessions expire every 2 mins. Payment made, no ticket received. Agents will sell same tickets at 2x-3x. This isn’t a glitch, it’s a SCAM & @IRCTCofficial is in it. pic.twitter.com/BaS1uQPfUx
— Sanchit Patil (@Sanchit_Patil_) August 19, 2025
Payment Made, No Ticket Received
An X (formerly Twitter) user wrote, " Trying to book tickets for 18/10/25 (Diwali). Till 7:59am site works fine, but at 8:00 am it slows, sessions expire every 2 mins. Payment made,no ticket received. Agents will sell same tickets at 2x-3x. This isn't a glitch, it's a SCAM & @IRCTCofficial is in it."
When Does Indian Railways Open Advance Reservation Window?
According to The Economic Times, "Indian Railways opens its advance reservation window 60 days before the date of travel, and today, 19 August 2025, tickets for journeys starting from 18 October are available. With the Diwali holiday rush beginning around that period, a large number of passengers logged in this morning to secure seats, leading to heavy traffic on the IRCTC platform. This heavy rush may have resulted the glitch in the system."
What Is IRCTC?
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) manages online ticketing for Indian Railways. The service is heavily used across the country, especially during peak hours and festival seasons. Any disruption can affect a large number of passengers relying on the platform for reservations.
