IRCTC serves 58 crore meals yearly, books 18.4 lakh tickets in a day
Synopsis
IRCTC isn't just a ticketing platform anymore — it's quietly become one of India's largest AI-run service operations. With 58 crore meals a year, 800+ kitchens under AI cameras, 18.40 lakh tickets in a single day, and 3 crore fake IDs purged, the Navratna PSU is scaling automation faster than most Indian public sector peers.
Key Takeaways
IRCTC serves nearly 58 crore meals annually across 1,400+ trains , including Vande Bharat, Rajdhani and Shatabdi.
Reserved ticket bookings peaked at 18.40 lakh on 19 August 2025 ; per-minute high of 37,410 on 16 August 2025 .
Over 800 kitchens monitored via AI cameras; e-catering live at 425+ stations .
22 lakh meals supplied across 400+ election special trains for central forces in Assembly Elections 2026.
More than 3 crore suspicious user IDs deactivated and 13,343 email domains blocked in 2025.
Rail Neer capacity stands at 18.40 lakh bottles a day across 19 plants ; helpline IRHES-139 handles 2.2 lakh calls daily in 13 languages .
State-owned Navratna PSU Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has scaled up its AI-driven catering, ticketing and passenger service operations, serving nearly 58 crore meals a year and clocking a peak of 18.40 lakh reserved tickets booked in a single day, according to corporation data released on 3 June. The PSU now manages catering on more than 1,400 trains and handles an average of 14.53 lakh ticket bookings daily on its platforms.
Catering footprint across premium trains
IRCTC oversees catering on flagship services including Vande Bharat Express, Rajdhani Express, Shatabdi Express, Duronto Express, Tejas Express and Gatiman Express. Over 800 kitchens are monitored through AI-enabled cameras linked to a centralised control system for real-time quality compliance, the corporation said.
E-catering and e-pantry scale up
The e-catering service, live at more than 425 stations, averaged over 1.20 lakh daily orders in 2025-26, with a single-day high of about 1.84 lakh meals on 18 October 2025. The e-pantry service, rolled out in phases since March 2025, has logged roughly 1.23 lakh meal bookings on select Mail and Express trains.
During the Assembly Elections 2026, IRCTC supplied 22 lakh meals across over 400 election special trains deployed for central forces — a logistical milestone for the PSU.
Digital ticketing dominance
Around 89 per cent of reserved tickets in 2025-26 were booked via IRCTC platforms. The highest per-minute booking touched 37,410 tickets on 16 August 2025, while daily bookings peaked at 18.40 lakh on 19 August 2025.
AI, anti-fraud and Rail Neer
IRCTC said its AI systems are deployed for anti-bot protection in ticketing, live kitchen monitoring, and automated anomaly detection in food preparation. The PSU deactivated more than 3 crore suspicious user IDs in 2025, blocked 13,343 suspicious email domains, and flagged about 4 lakh suspicious PNRs through cybercrime reporting channels.
In packaged water, IRCTC operates 19 Rail Neer bottling plants with a daily installed capacity of 18.40 lakh bottles. The Integrated Railway Helpline (IRHES-139), powered by IVRS, ASR and NLP, handles around 2.2 lakh calls a day in 13 languages.
What's next
With AI integration deepening across kitchens, ticketing and passenger helplines, IRCTC's next test will be sustaining quality and uptime as volumes climb further — particularly during festive surges and election cycles.
Point of View
But the real story is the quiet shift from being a ticketing portal to a full-stack AI services PSU. The 800-kitchen AI-camera deployment, anti-bot ticketing layer, and 3-crore fake-ID purge suggest the corporation is taking platform integrity more seriously than most central PSUs. The next question is governance — who audits the AI decisions, especially around food safety flags and ticket-bot blocks? Without transparent audit trails, scale alone won't translate into trust.
NationPress
20 Jul 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
How many meals does IRCTC serve in a year?
IRCTC serves nearly 58 crore meals annually across the Indian Railways network. Its catering covers more than 1,400 trains, including Vande Bharat, Rajdhani, Shatabdi, Duronto, Tejas and Gatiman Express services.
What is the highest single-day ticket booking on IRCTC?
The highest daily booking reached 18.40 lakh tickets on 19 August 2025. The peak per-minute booking stood at 37,410 tickets, recorded on 16 August 2025.
How is IRCTC using AI in its operations?
IRCTC uses AI for anti-bot protection in ticketing, live monitoring of over 800 kitchens via cameras linked to a central control system, and automated anomaly detection in food preparation. AI also assists fraud detection, which led to over 3 crore suspicious user IDs being deactivated in 2025.
What is the scale of IRCTC's e-catering service?
E-catering is live at more than 425 stations and averaged over 1.20 lakh daily orders in 2025-26. The single-day peak was around 1.84 lakh meals on 18 October 2025.
How many calls does the IRCTC railway helpline handle daily?
The Integrated Railway Helpline (IRHES-139) handles about 2.2 lakh calls a day in 13 languages. It is powered by IVRS, ASR and NLP technologies.
