Under this newly launched Integrated Train Enquiry System (ITES), all enquiry numbers --131, 132, 135, 133, 1361, 1362 and 1363--are clubbed and the services will be available on 139,  Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), Chief Regional Manager Gagarin said.

Explaining the functioning, Mr Gagarin said that  the recorded voice welcomes the caller to the Indian Railways enquiry system and offers options like select 1 for English, 2  for Hindi and 3 for other languages.

The service was inaugurated by Union Minister of State for Railways R Velu at Chennai by making an enquiry about the Sampark Kranti Express. The Southern region call centre is located in Mysore.

The service has been introduced by the IRCTC  on a Private-Public Partnership basis in collaboration with Bharat BPO and BSNL/MTNL.

The project was successfully tried out on a pilot basis in Bangalore and Patna. The service was launched this year at Noida for northern region (on July 7) and Ahmedabad for Western
region (September 15).

For the eastern region, it will be launched in Kolkata by the end of this month, the Chief Regional
Manager said.

 In the event of system crashing in a region, the calls could be diverted to other regions. Now, PNR enquiry, accommodation availability, fare enquiry and current train running position would be available on 139. Accident-related information will also be added later as part of basic services.

The Railways also plans to offer value added services like booking a railway ticket, hotel booking, pick-up service and travel packages within a month.