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Indian Railways Getting Tech Smart
Nivedan Prakash, Mar 13, 2007 1256 hrs ISTTrain journeys may never be the same again... Thanks to the technological advancements introduced by the Indian Railways...
Train journeys may never be the same again... Thanks to the technological advancements introduced by the Indian Railways, the world's second largest rail network after Russia.
Amongst a slew of initiatives undertaken by the Indian Railways, the one that draws most attention is the issuing of tickets through the Internet. Although this service has been there for the past few years, 2007 onwards, the railways intend to expand the service reach to all parts of the country. As such, e-tickets will be issued through e-seva of state governments, post offices, petrol pumps, and ATMs.
And to make online reservation more accessible to customers, Indian Railways have tied up with Internet service provider, Sify, to enable customers book tickets online against cash payment.
A common Web site integrating more than 50 different Web sites of Indian Railways is also being developed, with built-in facilities like e-payment and e-tendering. A commercial portal will be developed in the next three years for yield management, especially to attract traffic for returning empties and filling up vacant seats.
Then there will be train enquiry call centers, which will start functioning in all four zones of the country from the second half of this year. By dialing the telephone number 139, passengers will be able to obtain information about arrival and departure of trains, seat availability, etc, at local call rates from any part of the country.
A proposal to provide hand held computer terminals to TTEs in reserved coaches is on the anvil. How it will work is that the TTEs will feed in the current vacancy position, coach wise and berth wise in the hand held terminals, which will be directly linked to passenger reservation system (PRS) to enable allotment of vacant berths to wait-listed passengers at ensuing stations.
Further, smart cards and kiosks for ticketing are also in the pipeline.
Morever, the Railways is planning on collaborating with the Russian Railways to offer state-of-the-art technologies in railway automation, safety, collision repair, and monitoring of rail network through Global Positioning System (GPS).
The latest instance of increasing use of technology in railways is the installation of LCD television screens behind seats in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express. A forward looking measure, it will offer passengers the perfect opportunity to catch up with some fun infotainment while travelling.
Amongst a slew of initiatives undertaken by the Indian Railways, the one that draws most attention is the issuing of tickets through the Internet. Although this service has been there for the past few years, 2007 onwards, the railways intend to expand the service reach to all parts of the country. As such, e-tickets will be issued through e-seva of state governments, post offices, petrol pumps, and ATMs.
And to make online reservation more accessible to customers, Indian Railways have tied up with Internet service provider, Sify, to enable customers book tickets online against cash payment.
A common Web site integrating more than 50 different Web sites of Indian Railways is also being developed, with built-in facilities like e-payment and e-tendering. A commercial portal will be developed in the next three years for yield management, especially to attract traffic for returning empties and filling up vacant seats.
Then there will be train enquiry call centers, which will start functioning in all four zones of the country from the second half of this year. By dialing the telephone number 139, passengers will be able to obtain information about arrival and departure of trains, seat availability, etc, at local call rates from any part of the country.
A proposal to provide hand held computer terminals to TTEs in reserved coaches is on the anvil. How it will work is that the TTEs will feed in the current vacancy position, coach wise and berth wise in the hand held terminals, which will be directly linked to passenger reservation system (PRS) to enable allotment of vacant berths to wait-listed passengers at ensuing stations.
Further, smart cards and kiosks for ticketing are also in the pipeline.
Morever, the Railways is planning on collaborating with the Russian Railways to offer state-of-the-art technologies in railway automation, safety, collision repair, and monitoring of rail network through Global Positioning System (GPS).
The latest instance of increasing use of technology in railways is the installation of LCD television screens behind seats in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express. A forward looking measure, it will offer passengers the perfect opportunity to catch up with some fun infotainment while travelling.
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Manickkam
,Chennai, on May 27, 2009 07:49 PM
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Cheenu
,Chennai, on Aug 14, 2008 12:49 PM
Harshad Jadav
,Mumbai, on Jan 27, 2009 10:56 PM
Harshad Jadav
,Mumbai, on Jan 27, 2009 10:52 PM
dipali
,Deli, on Jun 10, 2008 07:49 PM
vak
,hosur, on Mar 14, 2007 09:11 AM
rajan
,bangalore, on Mar 13, 2007 05:54 PM
Chandra
,Chennai, on Mar 13, 2007 06:07 PM
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,Chennai, on Mar 13, 2007 03:42 PM
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,coimbatore, on Mar 13, 2007 01:58 PM
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