March 3, 2026 12:19 pm

IRCTC Faces Technical Outage as Chhath Puja Rush Overloads Ticket Booking System

The IRCTC website faced a temporary outage on Saturday morning, leaving several users unable to book train tickets amid the heavy Chhath Puja travel rush. Many passengers took to social media to report that both the IRCTC website and mobile app were not functioning properly during peak booking hours.

According to Downdetector, an online outage tracking portal, around 180 reports were registered regarding IRCTC issues around 10:07 am.

Users Report Glitches During Tatkal Booking

Several users complained that the IRCTC app had been malfunctioning for the past three to four days, particularly during Tatkal booking hours, when ticket demand is at its highest.

One user wrote on X (formerly Twitter):

“@IRCTCofficial @RailMinIndia @RailwaySeva worst app from past 3-4 days. App is not working during Tatkal time… sorry state of affairs.”

Another user shared a screenshot of a failed booking attempt and urged officials to resolve the issue urgently.

IRCTC Responds to Complaints

While IRCTC has not released any official statement on the outage, it responded to multiple user posts on X, advising them to register their complaints through the official query portal.

“Kindly raise your concern/complaint on https://equery.irctc.co.in/irctc_equery/ using registered mobile no/mail id,” IRCTC replied to one such user.

Festive Rush Strains Railway Systems

The outage coincided with the Chhath Puja travel rush, one of the busiest periods for the Indian Railways.
To manage the massive passenger load, over 12,000 special trains are currently being operated across the country.

According to an Indian Railways press release, holding areas with passenger amenities have been set up at major stations, including New Delhi, Anand Vihar Terminal, Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Udhna, to handle the festive crowd safely and efficiently.