IRCTC Full Form

IRCTC full form is Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation. It is a subsidiary of Indian Railway that provides ticketing, catering, and tourism service to Indian Railway. It was initially completely owned by the Government of India and operated under the administrative control of the Indian Ministry of railways but has been listed on the NSE, since 2019, with the Government continuing to hold major ownership. 

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What is the Full Form of IRCTC?

The full form of IRCTC is the Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation.

IRCTC Establishment And Ownership

The IRCTC full form is Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation. It was established on September 27, 1999, as a public sector enterprise completely owned by the Government of India through the Indian Railways. It is the only institution that is allowed to provide certain services to Indian Railway, including catering, online ticketing, selling drinking water on trains and at the railway station.

The IRCTC was listed on NSE in 2019, following with the holdings of the Government of India minimized to 87%, with the remaining shares being publicly traded. The Government of India divested another 20%, minimizing its holdings in IRCTC to 67%.

IRCTC Full Form in Railway and its Core Activities

IRCTC full form in Railway is Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation. It offers the following services to its customers. 

• Online Ticketing

• Catering & Hospitality

• Travel & Tourism

• Packaged Drinking Water (Rail Neer)

IRCTC Long Form and Mission

IRCTC long form is Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation. It aims to establish itself as a leading provider of hospitality service, travel & tourism, packaged drinking water, and online ticketing by providing high-quality products and services to passengers, tourists, and other customers targeting IR and non-IR related services similarly, building a flexible business portfolio that is innovative and based on core requirements.

IRCTC Vision

To be the leading provider of exceptional travel, tourism, and hospital-related service to a range of customers, with consistently high levels of customer satisfaction.

IRCTC Objectives

• To deliver extensive quality catering services directly as well as through the network of professional competitive license and franchises.

• To be an eminent player in the hospitality business.

• To produce bulk eatables manufacturing services like food factories, etc.

• To provide extensive quality packaged drinking water services (Rail Neer) in trains and at Railway stations.

• To promote tourism throughout the country especially for all segments of the Railway passenger.

• To provide a single-window system to its customers including train travel, air travel, road travel, hospitality, hotel accommodation, catering, etc.

• To advertise and market packaged drinking water in competitive markets outside railway premises under a different brand name or contrarily.

• To maintain a leadership position in e-commerce and technology, online ticketing, for customer interface for Railway passengers/customers.

• To embrace strong corporate governance practices and transparent industry practices.

• To enhance private sector participation and expertise to improve the quality of product and service.

• To hold up a strong customer-friendly, professional, and ethical work culture.

• To work towards the creation of additional infrastructure on Railway or non-railway premises in their authorized business line to improve Gross block.

• To be a technology-driven and customer-centric enterprise through continuous innovation and human resource development.

• To promote and operate post-arrival and pre-departure services at executive lounges, multi-functional complexes, budget hotels, etc through participation by professionals.

• To promote inbound travelling predominantly parallel to religious tourism thereby enhancing diplomatic initiative through people-to-people contact.

IRCTC Tatkal Schemes 

Under the IRCTC tatkal schemes, passengers who plan their travelling at short notice can book their ticket in almost all Mail/Express trains through the Indian railway internet portal. The booking under this scheme starts at 10:00 AM daily for AC coaches and Non-AC coach timing is 11:00 AM, one day before the departure of the train from the source station. Tatak online ticketing can be booked one day prior excluding the journey date from the train originating station. Under the online tatkal scheme, passengers can book their tickets on opening day from 10:00 AM for AC coach and 11:00 AM for Non -AC coach. Passengers travelling with tatkal tickets are required to carry a photo ID proof along with them to be shown to the ticket checker.  

IRCTC Tourism

IRCTC long form, Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation, also arranges a budget and deluxe packages operations for domestic and foreign tourists. A famous tour package for budget tourists and covers important tourist destinations throughout  India is known as “Bharat Darshan”. Luxury tourism packages are also available for passengers that include special luxury tourist trains like Maharaja Express and Buddhist circuit operations. 

IRCTC also offers adventure tourism packages to passengers that include adventure, water sports, wildlife treks, etc. A provision for customizing tours as per the customer's requirement is also offered. 

Recently,  a new venture of Indian Railway namely Rail tourism India has been launched to offer direct catering service and tourism packages to passengers.

India’s first private train, Tejas Express, launched by the IRCTC in 2020, from Lucknow to New Delhi, and from Ahmedabad to Mumbai.

IRCTC Train Operations

Indian Railway Catering And Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), primarily provides catering and online ticketing service but it also operates various express trains as a private player in India.

• First Private Train In India - Lucknow- New Delhi Tejas Express

• Second Private Train In India - Ahmedabad- Mumbai Tejas Express

• Third Private Train In India -  Kashi Mahakal Humsafar Express