Millions of users rushed to the IRCTC website and mobile app on Friday morning to book train tickets ahead of the Diwali festival season.
However, the system suddenly crashed, leaving users unable to log in or complete their bookings.
Many saw the message “Service Unavailable,” while passengers trying to book Tatkal tickets faced the most trouble.
Thousands Report Problems on Downdetector
According to Downdetector, a platform that tracks website outages, reports of problems began to spike around 10 a.m.
Within minutes, over 3,000 users complained that they couldn’t book tickets, and the number later grew to nearly 6,000 reports.
Around 58% of users faced issues with website loading, 29% had login errors, and 13% experienced payment failures.
Social media was flooded with complaints and screenshots, and #IRCTCDown quickly started trending.
Fortunately, after some time, the services returned to normal, and many users were able to book tickets without further issues.
Heavy Festive Traffic Caused the Crash
Reports suggest that the crash happened when Tatkal bookings began.
Since trains are usually full during the Diwali period, millions of people tried booking tickets at the same time.
This sudden surge in traffic overloaded the servers, causing the IRCTC system to crash temporarily.
