Indian Railways reservation: From Jan 12, Aadhaar-authenticated IRCTC users can book train tickets till midnight

Indian Railways ticket booking: The train ticket booking window for Aadhaar-authenticated IRCTC (Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation) users will be revised once again from January 12. With this change, Aadhaar-verified users will be able to book train tickets till midnight on the day the Advance Reservation Period (ARP) opens.  “w.e.f 12 January 2026, only Aadhaar-authenticated users shall be allowed to book general reserved tickets on the opening day of Advance Reservation Perion(ARP),” IRCTC said in a statement.

However, there will be no change in the procedure of booking tickets across the computerised PRS counters. “Aadhaar verification of users is an important step which has been taken to make the system more robust. Cutting-edge technology is also being used to identify and prevent unscrupulous users trying to misuse the e-ticketing system,” the Ministry of Railways said in a statement on January 6.

So far (till January 11), Aadhaar-authenticated users could book reserved tickets only between 8:00 am and 12:00 noon on the opening day of the booking window. The Ministry of Railways is expanding the scope of Aadhaar-authenticated booking for general reservations on the opening day in a phased manner.

Earlier, the national transporter had made Aadhaar-based verification mandatory for booking reserved train tickets through the IRCTC website or app during the first 15 minutes of the opening of general reservations. Later, Aadhaar authentication was extended to the morning hours – from 8 AM to 10 AM – on the first day of reserved ticket booking.

On December 29, 2025, the Aadhaar-verified IRCTC users were allowed to book tickets between 08:00 hrs and 12:00 hrs on the first day of the reservation window. On January 5, the ticket booking window for Aadhaar-authenticated users was extended from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm on the first day of the opening of reserved ticket booking.

According to railways, the move aims to ensure that the benefits of the reservation system reach genuine passengers and prevent misuse by touts or other unscrupulous elements.

Recently, in a statement, the national transporter said that to ensure genuine passengers receive confirmed tickets, Indian Railways has strengthened ticketing integrity through Aadhaar verification and advanced technological monitoring. It further added that 5.73 crore suspicious and inactive IRCTC user accounts have been deactivated or temporarily suspended.