IRCTC launches BlackBerry 10 app to book train tickets

IRCTC has launched an application for BlackBerry smartphone to enable users to book train tickets. “The official IRCTC App can now be downloaded from BlackBerry Store on BlackBerry 10 smartphones and book train tickets using the app,” said a senior IRCTC official. The number of tickets booked through e-ticketing system on IRCTC website has gone up many times since capacity enhancement of the portal recently. It cost about Rs 100 crore to the Railway PSU for strengthening the ticketing site. On an average 7000 tickets are booked on the IRCTC website per minute and about 5 lakh tickets are booked daily. CRIS, the technical arm of railways, was involved in the upgrading of the IRCTC website. There are about 31 crore reserve tickets being booked in a year out of which 55 per cent tickets are sold through windows. While 37 per cent tickets are booked online, eight per cent are being booked by ticketing agents. About a year ago,  IRCTC had launched exclusive apps for Windows Phone and Windows 8 devices in collaboration with Microsoft. These apps were  available for download for free from Windows Phone Store and Windows 8 Store respectively. PTI