New Delhi: The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) website experienced technical issues on Saturday morning, leaving several users unable to book train tickets during the Chhath Puja rush. Travelers reported that attempts to access the website or complete bookings were met with errors, causing frustration among those planning their festive travel.

While IRCTC did not issue an official statement on the matter, it responded to users’ complaints on its X handle, directing them to raise concerns via its e-query portal. One user shared a screenshot of the booking page displaying an error and wrote, “IRCTC website is down while ticket booking. Sir, please do the needful.” In reply, IRCTC advised the user to lodge a complaint at https://equery.irctc.co.in/irctc_equery/ using a registered mobile number or email ID.

Reports of the outage were also tracked on Downdetector, which recorded approximately 180 complaints around 10:07 am on Saturday. Several passengers additionally complained that the IRCTC mobile app has been unreliable, particularly during Tatkal ticket booking hours. One user tweeted, “Worst app from past 3–4 days. App is not working during Tatkal time… sorry state of affairs,” tagging IRCTC and relevant railway authorities.

The disruption comes at a time when Indian Railways is operating over 12,000 special trains nationwide to manage the surge in passenger traffic during the festive season, which spans Diwali and Chhath Puja. Thousands of travelers from Bihar and other states travel to their hometowns for the celebrations, putting significant pressure on the ticketing system.

To ensure passenger comfort amid the heavy rush, the Railways has set up holding areas equipped with essential amenities at major stations including New Delhi, Anand Vihar Terminal, Udhna, Pune, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and others, according to an official release. Passengers are advised to remain patient and use the official e-query portal for booking-related issues.