How would you improve train ticket booking on Cleartrip after its 2026 IRCTC launch?

Introduction

In April 2026 Cleartrip added train ticketing through a partnership with IRCTC, joining flights, hotels, buses and holiday packages in its app. It is a late entry. IRCTC's own channels hold an estimated 80–85% of online train bookings, and among private apps ixigo (with ConfirmTkt) has a strong lead. Cleartrip has said it hopes to reach a mid-to-high single-digit share of private-app train bookings and make trains 5–10% of its business.

The prompt asks how I would improve train booking on Cleartrip. Because the product is new, "improve" here means finding the reasons people start a train search on Cleartrip and don't finish it, and the reasons they don't come back. I'll clarify, segment, map the journey and pain points, then propose and prioritise solutions with metrics.

Step 1

Clarifying Questions (5 mins)

• What is the main goal: more train bookings, or using trains to bring new users into Cleartrip?

• Why it matters: Trains have thin margins. Their value may be in frequency and cross-sell rather than direct revenue.
• Hypothetical answer: Grow completed train bookings, while making sure train users also discover Cleartrip's buses and flights.
• Impact on approach: We'll focus on conversion and repeat use, with cross-sell as a secondary lever.

• Where are users dropping off today?

• Why it matters: Train booking has a unique step: the IRCTC login and password at payment.
• Hypothetical answer: Search-to-booking conversion is well below flights, with the largest drop at the IRCTC login step and among waitlisted results.
• Impact on approach: The IRCTC handoff and waitlist experience become the core of the analysis.

• Which platform matters most?

• Why it matters: Most train bookings in India happen on Android phones.
• Hypothetical answer: The Cleartrip Android app and the Cleartrip tab inside the Flipkart app.
• Impact on approach: Design for mid-range Android phones and patchy networks.

• Are there constraints from IRCTC?

• Why it matters: IRCTC controls inventory, booking rules, Tatkal windows and identity checks.
• Hypothetical answer: Yes. Cleartrip cannot change booking rules, only the experience around them.
• Impact on approach: Solutions must work within IRCTC's rules.