NEW DELHI, Feb 27: In his broadly-well-received Budget as the Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu has not only promised to improve facilities at stations and in trains but has also promised to improve the railways’ digital interface to make the entire train travel experience more customer-friendly. With an eye on the ‘Digital India’ initiative under the Narendra Modi government, Prabhu’s budget offerings include the following:
In ticketing
Operation 5 Minutes will be introduced for unreserved passengers to buy a ticket within five minutes of entering a railway station, in an effort to end long and never-ending queues. In the Central, Western and Southern Railway suburban sections, a pilot project for issuing unreserved tickets on smart phones has already been started.
Automatic ticket vending machines with smart cards have also been installed at many stations. It has been proposed to increase their number further and introduce debit-card-operated machines.
Concessional e – tickets can be purchased by differently-abled travelers after a one-time registration.
E-catering has been introduced where commuters can order food through the IRCTC website at the time of booking tickets. As of now, the service has been introduced in 108 trains on an experimental basis from January this year. The Railways is working to integrate the best food chains of the country into this project.
A dedicated mobile app to redress complaints is also being developed and for this a pilot project will begin in the Northern Railway from March 1.
SMS alert service on train status would be introduced to inform passengers about train arrival and departure timings of the respective stations in advance.
Using
SMS as a valid proof on mobiles for PRS tickets is being examined as a possible way to do away with paper documentation.
Wi-Fi facilities: 400 ‘B’ category stations to get open WiFi services. Currently the service is available in all A1 and A category railway stations.
Online booking of amenities like wheelchairs on payment basis for senior citizens, patients and differently-abled passengers will be available through IRCTC on select stations, as well as retiring rooms and disposable bed rolls.
Mapping of rail land is being looked at to counter the encroachment, where the rail land records will be digitally mapped.
Centrally-managed rail display network in over 2000 stations is to be introduced in next two years.
