Published 28th July, 2026
What If the Train Helped Us Discover the
Destination?
Sometimes We Know the Date Before We Know the
Destination.
Nayakanti Prashant
3rd Gen Banker & Citizen Lobbyist – Bengaluru
The Starting Point
Dear IRCTC, CRIS and Indian Railways Teams,
At the outset, congratulations on the new beta version of the
IRCTC ticket-booking portal.
The familiar journey remains beautifully simple:
From. To. Date. Search Trains.
That works when we already know where we want to go.
But with 162 Vande Bharat train services operating across
India, perhaps the growing network creates another possibility.
Not merely:
Which train will take me to my destination?
But sometimes:
Which destination could this train help me discover?
There is also a nice Citizen Observation 777 continuity here.
CO2 said:
A Beta Portal Deserves Beta Citizens.
CO12 is one such Beta Citizen thought.
Act I | The Empty “To” Box
Friday evening.
The working week is almost over.
Someone looks at the calendar.
Saturday.
Sunday.
Two days.
Enough time to get away.
The IRCTC portal opens.
From: Bengaluru.
Date: This weekend.
Then comes the next box.
To:
The cursor waits.
Because this time, the traveller knows when to travel...
but not where.
For most railway journeys, From → To → Date is
exactly the right beginning.
But for this traveller, perhaps that empty “To” box represents
something else.
An invitation to discover.
Act II | A Vande Bharat Doorway
Could the new IRCTC experience eventually offer a separate:
VANDE BHARAT
discovery doorway?
Not as a replacement for conventional train search.
Simply another starting point for someone thinking:
“I would like to travel by Vande Bharat. Where could I go?”
Perhaps the starting city is known.
Perhaps the dates are known.
Perhaps even the number of days is known.
Only one thing is missing.
The destination.
Citizen Observation 777 draws only the first line:
Vande Bharat → Discover
How that discovery eventually works belongs to IRCTC, CRIS,
Indian Railways and the experts closest to the platform.
Act III | Chalo, Where Shall We Go?
Saturday morning.
Tea arrives.
Someone at home says:
“Chalo... two-day trip next weekend?”
“Where?”
A few names immediately appear.
Some are familiar.
Some have already been visited.
Someone wants something different.
Another person picks up the phone.
Then comes a different question:
“Why don't we first see where Vande Bharat has tickets
available both ways?”
The conversation changes.
Now the train is no longer merely transport after the
destination has been chosen.
The train becomes part of choosing the destination.
From Bengaluru, perhaps Belagavi appears.
Someone notices Madurai–Bengaluru.
From Secunderabad, perhaps Tirupati enters the conversation.
From Chennai, Coimbatore.
Elsewhere, Visakhapatnam–Bhubaneswar, Delhi–Dehradun or New
Delhi–Katra might spark completely different plans.
A destination appears on the screen.
Someone pauses.
Then says:
“I hadn't thought of going there.”
Another person looks it up.
Someone checks what there is to see.
The conversation gets longer.
And somewhere between the train and the destination...
a weekend begins to take shape.
Act IV | One Citizen Suggestion
Could IRCTC eventually consider a dedicated Vande Bharat
discovery journey?
The existing search answers:
I know where I want to go. How do I get there?
The additional doorway could answer:
I know when I can travel. Where could I go?
Four possibilities follow.
1. Better discovery of available capacity
Flexible travellers could discover services and seats they might otherwise
never search for.
2. More tourism possibilities
The train could introduce travellers to destinations they had not considered.
3. More spontaneous and last-minute journeys
Sometimes a free weekend arrives before a destination does.
4. More conversations that become journeys
A casual “Chalo, let's go somewhere” could become:
Discover → Discuss → Decide → Book → Travel.
The First Line on the Whiteboard
Citizen Observation 777 draws only the first line on the
whiteboard.
For CO12:
Vande Bharat → Discover
Should discovery begin with a city, date, weekend, journey
duration, seat availability, return journey or tourism possibility?
Those are subsequent lines.
The suggestion is the doorway.
The design belongs to the experts.
Act V | When the Train Comes First
For generations, the railway booking question has naturally
been:
Where are we going?
Then we find the train.
That journey isn't going anywhere.
But perhaps Vande Bharat creates room for another
conversation.
The weekend comes first.
Then the train.
Then a destination appears.
A place we know.
Or perhaps one we don't.
We search.
We talk.
We decide.
We book.
And one morning...
the train pulls away from the platform towards a destination
that, only a few days earlier, wasn't even part of the plan.
That is the possibility.
Today, we usually choose the destination and then search for
the train.
What if, sometimes, the train helped us discover the
destination?
Citizen Observation
The new IRCTC beta portal gives travellers the familiar
starting journey:
From. To. Date. Search.
CO12 draws just one additional line:
Vande Bharat → Discover India
Not every traveller needs it.
Not every journey begins spontaneously.
But sometimes...
we know the date before we know the destination.
And somewhere around a breakfast table, a family may simply
say:
“Chalo, let's go somewhere this weekend.”
Perhaps the next destination is already connected.
It is just waiting to be discovered.
Disclaimer
Citizen Observation 12 is a citizen-experience suggestion
inspired by the new IRCTC beta portal and the growing Vande Bharat network.
The routes and examples mentioned are illustrative. Vande
Bharat services, train numbers, routes, operating days, schedules, timings,
stoppages and seat availability may change due to operational or other reasons.
Travellers should verify current information through official Indian Railways /
IRCTC channels before planning or booking a journey.
The feasibility, technology, architecture, search logic and
eventual design of any discovery feature rightly belong to IRCTC, CRIS, Indian
Railways and the relevant experts.
The April 11 – Digital Transactions
Day Philosophy
A railway ticket ends in a payment.
But the digital journey begins much earlier.
Discovery → Search →
Selection → Booking → Payment → Journey
Digital Transactions Day advocacy looks beyond the payment
moment to the entire digital experience surrounding it.
That philosophy also inspires the proposal to recognise April
11 as Digital Transactions Day — UPI Birthday.
Digital Payments are a sub-set of Digital Transactions.
Additional Reading:
https://newsonair.gov.in/162-vande-bharat-train-services-currently-operating-across-country-says-govt/
This is gold, https://www.cntraveller.in/story/full-list-of-vande-bharat-express-trains-timings-schedule-tickets/
The Joy of Digital Transactions
Nayakanti Prashant
3rd Gen Banker & Citizen Lobbyist – Bengaluru
Advocating Digital Transactions Day (April 11)
Author’s Blogs
https://prashantrandomthoughts.blogspot.com
https://prashantnepayments.blogspot.com
https://innovationinbanking.blogspot.com
