In 2 years, book a ticket from your cell phone

Emphasising the Atithi Devo Bhav credo, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad announced a string of amenities for passengers.

Emphasising the Atithi Devo Bhav credo, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad announced a string of amenities for passengers. In two years time, passengers will no longer have to wait in long queues to but tickets, instead they can book tickets through their mobile phones. Internet and ticket vending machines, updating the railway enquiry call centre as well as that on-line coach indication board and the on-line train arrival departure board, are just some of the measures which were stressed upon by the railway minister to make travelling more comfortable.

The minister also announced the introduction of the Go Mumbai Card to help passengers avoid queues at the financial capital’s suburban train stations. The card would be sold at local stations, BEST bus depots and other locations in the city. The card would allow travellers to travel without having to buy a ticket each time. However, the Railways Ministry will not commit any capital towards the scheme. Lalu said this budget was on the lines of his earlier budgets in the past four years. He declared that this year’s budget was dedicated to improving the passengers’ travelling experience.

In two years, the minister said, railway bookings would be made available on the Internet, through mobile phones and even in neighbourhood counters and automatic vending machines — which would be increased to 6,000 from the present 350. The unreserved ticketing system (UTS) counters would be increased from the current 3,000 to 15,000. E-tickets are currently only issued against confirmed reservation. Over time, it would be issued to waitlisted passengers as well.

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Exploring the possibility of tapping in to the burgeoning mobile phone boom, Lalu said, “The number of mobile phones in the country is expected to go up to 50 crore by 2010 from the present 30 crore. We are considering the possibility of issuing reserved and unreserved tickets through mobile phones.”

Stating that the setting up of a fully computerised railway enquiry has been a huge success, Lalu said, “The service is used by 2 lakh people daily and is expected to touch 5 lakh in a year.”

Aiming to match the Railways’ upgradation drive with international standards of airlines, the minister said, “On-line coach indication boards will be installed on trains. These boards will display the remaining distance and the likely time of arrival.”