BHUBANESWAR: Passengers can soon get real-time information on availability of vacant berths from Train Ticket Examiners (TTEs). The East Coast Railway (ECoR) is all set to introduce GPRS enabled hand-held devices in Odisha to enable last minute reservation of berths. The move will also provide a digital push to railway services and help TTEs do away with the conventional paper charts.
The Hand Held Terminal (HHT), a tablet which will be introduced by the end of this year, is meant to improve ticketing facility and help wait-listed and Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) ticket holders. ECoR officials said 33 HHTs have already been received of which 21 will be used in Bhubaneswar-New Delhi Rajdhani Express and 12 in Puri-Howrah Shatabdi Express. SIM cards are being activated and the HHTs will be ready for launch within a few days. The trial run of HHTs is already complete.
Passenger data will be uploaded in the HHTs and TTEs would no longer be required to carry printed reservation charts. The HHTs will be connected with passenger reservation system through GPRS.Besides, it will update details of ticket booking online at every station where the train stops. This real time information on vacant berths will result in greater availability of berths to wait-listed passengers. The officials said more bookings will also result in increased railway revenue and passenger satisfaction.
HHTs will usher in transparency and address the issue of corruption in allotting berths to wait-listed or RAC passengers. It can also be used for collecting excess fare, penalty and other charges from passengers and issuing receipts to them, they said.
The new facility was introduced in Patna-New Delhi Rajdhani Express on Monday. All the ticket checking staff of Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express trains will be provided with the latest gadget in a phased manner as part of the ECoR’s effort to introduce digital initiatives, the officials added.