JOIN USMobile vans likely for issuing railway tickets to passengers
An easy remedy to the problem appears in sight if the move by the Bangalore Division to introduce mobile vans to deliver railway tickets succeeds.
With an average of 14 lakh passengers opting for general tickets per day at different stations of the Bangalore Division with 40,500 passengers purchasing them at the Bangalore City station alone, these vans could prove to be a great relief to both passengers and counter clerks.
Christened ‘Mushkil Aasaan’ the scheme was mooted by Union Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee in her Railway budget.
The Tollygunge area in South Kolkata was the first in the country to launch a pilot project in this connection last Friday (January 8).
The scheme aims at positioning the mobile vans at malls and market places to ensure easy access to the public.
A similar railway ticketing van introduced during a trade fair at Pragati Maidan in New Delhi proved to be a great success.
Unlike the manual open tickets which were in vogue a decade ago, these computerised tickets can be introduced only if connectivity can be established through satellite with a common server at the Division, said Divisional Railway Manager (DRM), Akhil Agrawal.
“We are presently analysing the impact of mobile ticketing vans used for distribution of tickets in different parts of the country,” he said.
Cost factor
On the planned number, the DRM said it would depend on the cost. “If a van works out to be, say less than Rs two lakh, we can have many of them. But a much higher cost would allow us to introduce only a limited number of vans.”
The proposal envisages positioning the van at packed areas in different parts of the City. Each van could have two counters with railway clerks taking care of ticket issual.
The lengthy queues at the general ticket counters at Okalipuram side of the City railway station forced authorities to increase the number of counters from four to six upto 8 am in the morning last month, informed Praveen Pande, Senior Divisional Commercial Manager. A total of 50 mobile ticketing vans are likely to be introduced all over the country before the next Railway budget.
DH News Service