CHENNAI: Rail passengers will soon be able to purchase unreserved tickets from automatic ticket vending machines (ATVMs) installed at railway stations by making payments through UPI applications using their phones.
Southern Railway has decided to install 254 upgraded ATVMs in six divisions which will allow passengers to pay the ticket fare through UPI or QR-based payment system, the works for which are expected to be completed by April.
As of now, passengers can only purchase tickets by recharging the R-wallet of their smart cards. The railways upgraded the system after repeated complaints about long queues at ticket counters in many major stations, including Chennai Central, Chennai Egmore and Tambaram. Only 50% of counters are functioning at all major stations allegedly due to a staff crunch, according to commercial staff.
“After choosing the journey route on the screen of ATVM kiosk, the passenger can pay the ticket fare through UPI payment mode. Passengers can continue to use smart cards for purchasing tickets,” said a railway official.
The ATVMs were introduced by the railways over eight years ago to decongest the ticket counters. A total of 34 ATVMs are functioning in Chennai division and 65 in five other divisions of the Southern railway.
Although the four sections of the Chennai suburban network carry about 11.5 lakh passengers a day, the utilisation of vending machines remains abysmally low due to the reluctance of passengers in recharging their smart cards.
“The unreserved tickets for local, express and superfast trains and platform tickets can be purchased. The season ticket holders can renew monthly and quarterly passes. However, usage of the smart card will remain beneficial for the passenger as 3% bonus on the total recharge amount will be credited to the R-wallet,” the official said.
Of the 254 ATVMs, 96 will be installed at crowded stations in Chennai division. The remaining machines will be installed in Tiruchy (12), Madurai (46), Salem (12), Thiruvananthapuram (50) and Palakkad divisions (38). “Tickets will be printed in Tamil or Malayalam (in Kerala), English and Hindi,” added the official.