Standing in a long queue or waiting for Internet to connect quickly to book railway tickets might soon be a thing of the past as the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) will launch a pilot project to enable passengers to book tickets through mobile phones.
The project, which will be launched on July 1, will enable passengers to access ticketing services through SMSes and interactive voice response system.
It is expected to promote user-friendly and eco-friendly ticketing services.
With this, a user can book tickets or cancel them by sending an SMS to a specified number.
People who have registered their numbers with the IRCTC and their respective banks can use this service.
The one-time password issued by the banks will enable passengers to transfer money for the fare. They will have to type the train number, date of journey, class and passenger details.
As soon as a user receives the transaction ID he has to transfer money for the fare.
The Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation will then send an acknowledgment which can be used for travelling.
A user can follow a similar format to cancel booked tickets. This service can be used to book reserved, tatkal and general tickets.