BENGALURU:The app for booking unreserved tickets launched by the South Western Railway (SWR) Zone about four months ago has turned out to be quite popular.Over 67,000 have become registered users of the app in Karnataka with 51,000 registrations in Bengaluru Division alone.
Briefing newspersons at the Unreserved Ticketing System office of Krantivira Sangolli Rayanna (City) Railway Station on Tuesday evening, Divisional Railway Manager R S Saxena said, “The app was launched on February 8 at Belagavi. The SWR was the first non-suburban railway in the country to introduce such an app for unreserved tickets. Persistent efforts have been made to publicise it too.” Of the 51,000 who have downloaded the app in Bengaluru Division, over 20,000 passengers use it on a daily basis (26,500 bookings across SWR) to book tickets, he said. “It helps us earn `70,000 per day. The passenger waiting time at counters has considerably reduced,” the DRM pointed out.
Asked about the status of the suburban railway network for the city, he said, “The Detailed Project Report is being prepared by consultancy firm RITES. It has been announced in March this year that it will take 9-10 months for it to be ready.” The pre-feasibility study had already been done and we had given a ballpark estimate. Within a period of 3 months, it got included in the budget, he added.
Use R-wallets, cards
The highly user-friendly UTS app is offered on Android, Windows and Apple smart phones and can be downloaded from Google Play Store and Windows app store. Purchase of platform and season tickets as well as booking and cancellation of unreserved journey tickets can be done using the app. Senior Divisional Commercial Manager N R Sridharamurthy said tickets can be booked using R-wallets or cards and recharge can be done though PayTM, Mobikwik, Free Charge and at unreserved ticketing counters. Printouts of tickets, if required, can be taken through Automatic Ticket Vending Machines at stations or the unreserved ticket counter. A 5% instant cash bonus on the recharge value will be added to the R-wallet. For details, log on to www.utsonmobile.indianrail.gov.in or mail to utsonmobile_swr@cris.org.in or call +918861309572.