On June 9 this year, the number of tickets booked online stood at an all-time high of 110,233, almost 14 per cent of the total 800,000 berths the railways have across various classes, including chair cars and sleepers. The number is only expected to grow further as people increasingly opt out of the serpentine queues at railway reservation centres and choose to book tickets online.
In the seven years since its inception, the railways' e-ticketing initiative has witnessed spectacular growth, accounting for 30 per cent of all e-commerce transactions in the country in 2007-08, claim officials.
Consider the following facts. In 2002-03, a total of around 199,000 tickets were issued. Cut to the present. In the month of April 2008 alone, as many as 2.07 million tickets were sold. In May, this number climbed further to 2.49 million.
Officials of the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), a public sector undertaking under the Ministry of Railways that manages the online booking platform, www.irctc.co.in, say the number will go up even further.
"Going by the trends, we expect over 100 per cent growth in online ticket booking this year," an official, who declined to be identified, told Business Standard.
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The data throw up some interesting details as well. On an average, two passengers travel on each ticket. In 2002-03, around 417,000 passengers travelled on nearly 199,000 tickets. In 2007-08, around 35.2 million passengers travelled on nearly 18.9 million tickets. A maximum of six passengers can travel on a single ticket.
Now take a look at the financials. In 2002-03, e-ticketing earned the railways Rs 27.16 crore, around 4 per cent of the total earnings from reserved tickets sold that year. In 2007-08, this number rose to Rs 1,744.68 crore, or 14 per cent of the total earnings from reserved tickets sold to passengers.
For financial year 2008-09, the total earnings from e-ticket sales is projected at around Rs 3,500 crore. An IRCTC analysis of payment gateways in May this year shows that the total value of tickets booked stood at Rs 233.80 crore for around 2.49 million tickets, an annual growth of 139.35 per cent over the same month last year.
While credit cards were earlier the most favoured instrument for booking railway tickets online, other payment instruments have been increasing their share. In 2006-07, nearly half of all tickets booked online were through credit cards.
This fell to 44 per cent in 2007-08. In contrast, the number of tickets booked online using cash cards has increased from 20 per cent in 2006-07 to 25 per cent in 2007-08. Cash cards are pre-paid and facilitate online and mobile payments. "Cash cards are becoming more popular," the IRCTC official added.