Parliament Question: National Train Enquiry System

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 343 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.08.2026 NATIONAL TRAIN ENQUIRY SYSTEM *343. DR. SHRIKANT EKNATH SHINDE: SHRI NARESH GANPAT MHASKE: Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state: (a) the details of the Integrated Enquiry System that provides real-time train running information to passengers along with the user satisfaction rating; (b) the details of the reasons for the reduction in waiting time at railway enquiry counters after the deployment of interactive voice response systems in multiple languages; (c) the details of the automatic refund mechanism linked to train cancellation alerts along with the number of passengers who received instant credit to their bank accounts; (d) the extent to which the integration of the reservation system with the "Where is my Train" mobile app has empowered passengers with self- service capabilities; and (e) the details of the future roadmap for eliminating all manual counters through universal e-ticketing and unreserved mobile ticketing? ANSWER MINISTER OF RAILWAYS, INFORMATION & BROADCASTING AND ELECTRONICS & INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI ASHWINI VAISHNAW) (a) to (e): A Statement is laid on the Table of the House. ***** §STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (e) OF STARRED QUESTION NO.343 TO BE ANSWERED ON 12.08.2026 IN LOK SABHA (a) to (e) : The National Train Enquiry System (NTES), implemented in the year 2000, provides passengers with near real-time train running information, including arrival/departure status and train schedules through multiple interfaces such as enquiry counters, the NTES website, mobile applications (Android & iOS) and the nationwide Rail Enquiry Number 139. Its key features include Spot Your Train, Live Station, Train Schedule, and Trains between Stations, enabling passengers to access authentic and reliable information conveniently. The NTES mobile application, launched in October 2014 (Android) and October 2015 (iOS), has recorded more than 4.5 crore downloads on Android and 16 lakh downloads on iOS as on 01.08.2026. At present, NTES handles about 80,000 concurrent users and processes over 6 crore enquiries daily. It has been generally appreciated by the passengers. The deployment of the National Train Enquiry System (NTES), which provides passengers with easy access to authentic and near real-time train running information through multiple digital platforms including the website, mobile applications and Rail Enquiry Number 139, has significantly reduced the need for passengers to visit railway enquiry counters. Consequently, this has helped in reducing queues and waiting time at enquiry counters. In cases of train cancellation, the online e-ticketing system NGeT(Next Generation E-ticketing) automatically initiates the process of refund immediately after the scheduled time of departure of the train and the applicable refund is credited to the passenger's bank account. Automatic refunds linked to train cancellation are presently available only for e-Tickets booked online and are not available for counter tickets in Page 1 of 3which case the passenger holding counter ticket is required to visit nearest PRS counter. 'Where is My Train' application is not an official app of Indian Railways. RailOne is the Official App of Indian Railways which provides integrated platform for all public facing services of IR. It offers reserved, unreserved and platform ticketing, journey plan, train information, passenger support and allied railway services through a single, seamless mobile application. Presently approximately 89% of the reserved tickets are booked online as compared to about 49% in 2013-14. Unreserved tickets booked through various non-counter modes has increased to nearly 39%. With a view to expand digital mode of procurement of reserved as well as unreserved tickets Railways has launched RailOne App on 01.07.2025. This App enables passengers to book reserved as well as unreserved tickets on mobile phone. This App combines all the public facing services of Indian Railways like reserved ticketing, unreserved ticketing and platform ticketing, train enquiry, PNR enquiry, Railmadad, etc. into a single platform. This, in effect, brings the Passenger reservation system facility to passenger's palm. The App facilitates users to access multiple services through Single-Sign-On (SSO) facility eliminating the necessity of downloading multiple Applications of Railways & remembering several passwords. Page 2 of 3The details of transactions through Railone app as on 02.08.2026 are as under: - Daily Average tickets 10 lakhs Reserved tickets 2.79 lakhs Unreserved tickets 7.24 lakhs Downloads 4.76 crores Further, Indian Railways endeavours to provide passengers with multiple options to procure reserved as well as unreserved tickets so that they can procure ticket from the mode of their choice as per their need. In addition to reserved as well as unreserved counters of Indian Railways, other modes provided to passengers for procuring tickets are:-.  Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs)  Mobile- Unreserved Ticketing System (M – UTS)  Authorized Ticketing Agents like Halt agents, Jansadharan Ticket Booking Sevaks (JTBS), Station Ticket Booking Agents (STBA), M- UTS Sahayak and Yatri Ticket Suvidha Kendra Licencees (YTSKs)  Online Ticketing facility for reserved as well as unreserved ticketing through RailOne App.  Reserved ticketing through the website of Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and Rail Connect App of IRCTC ***** Page 3 of 3