- IRCTC website down during Tatkal ticket booking on Friday morning causing disruption
- Downdetector reported a sharp rise in complaints about IRCTC service outages around 10 am
- Social media users criticised IRCTC for poor server capacity during festival peak hours
Thousands of travelers preparing for travel during Diwali and Chhath Puja faced inconvenience when the IRCTC website reported issue on Friday morning. As soon as booking for Tatkal tickets began, the site stopped working, causing widespread discontent.
According to a report by Downdetector, complaints about disruptions to IRCTC services have increased sharply in the past few hours.
A notice on the website stated, the server is currently unavailable due to an influx of service requests.
It is believed that the overwhelming number of travelers immediately after booking opened in the morning put pressure on the site, causing the system to crash.
The Downdetector graph shows the maximum number of complaint were reported around 10 am.
Photo Credit: Downdetector
This is not the first time the IRCTC website has crashed. A similar situation occurred three times last year in December 2024.
This time, the problem occurred just before Dhanteras and during Tatkal booking, causing inconvenience to a large number of travelers.
Social Media Reaction
People have reported the issue on social media. One user posted on X writing, "Once again, IRCTC servers down during Tatkal booking right in the middle of the Diwali. When will IRCTC get a reliable system to handle peak traffic? Railways deserve better tech for the world's largest passenger network."
Another user shared the post and wrote, "Once again, IRCTC website and app are down exactly during Tatkal booking hours ! This happens every time before festivals. Please improve your server capacity."
