Railway tickets get SMS boost

With an increase in the number of cellphone subscribers in the country, the Indian Railways does not does not want to miss out on the opportunity to exploit mobile technology to provide enhanced services to its passengers. And considering the fact that there are over 26 crore cellphone subscribers in India, with about 19 crore being GSM subsribers and around 7 crore on CDMA, the railways could find this as a veritable customer base to tap into. The commuters in the city as well as other parts of the country may soon be able to book local train tickets as well as outstation tickets with the help of their mobiles.

Speaking to this newspaper, a highly placed official from the Southern Railways revealed about the bi-tech proposal, "The scheme of providing tickets on mobile phones is being worked out at the minsitry level in New Delhi." Once the plan is worked out in the Indian Railway's office in New Delhi, the facility will be available throughout India, mentioned another railway official.

The officer said,"This is part of teh announcement made by the union railway minister Lalu Prasad Yadav in this year's railway budget." Details such as the breakup of charges between the mobile service provider and the railways are being worked out. "The implementation of the scheme or the facility will be open for use for the passenger only after a year," added the railway offical. According to him, the face levied on the tickets booked via cell phone need not be paid at the railway counter or hours before the train departs from the railway station. Instead of the amount will be charged in the bills or deducted from the prepaid balance.

This is one of the measures that is being taken by the railways to make reservation of tickets easier by cutting down long queues at the railway stations. Other schemes presently available to the commuters in Chennai include smart cards validated through coupon machines, Internet booking and IRCTC ticket booking through local travel agents.