MUMBAI: Union Railway minister Suresh Prabhu today launched a new mobile ticketing app that will now facilitate hassle-free travel for around 35 lakh daily suburban railway commuters using the Western Railway.
Prabhu launched the facility through video conferencing from Delhi this afternoon. Mobile application based paperless ticket system is a part of 'Digital India' programme of the Centre and will be available on the Western Railway's suburban system between Churchgate and Dahanu Road, a senior railway official said here.
After two months, this would also be introduced at Central Railway Suburban trains. The app will be initially available on Android and Windows smartphones but will soon be extended to other platforms such as iOS, he said. "The mobile ticketing app has been launched with an aim to provide hassle free travel to 35 lakh daily suburban commuters now and the facility is result of the efforts of railway officials who wanted to bring in use of technology," DRM Shailendra Kumar of Mumbai Division of Western Railway said.
C P Sharma, Chief Commercial Manager of WR, said, "After downloading the app, commuter will have to choose city 'Mumbai' and he will have to recharge his debit or credit card (R-Wallet) with railway counter with minimum 100 or maximum 5,000 rupees." "The ticket can be purchased using money loaded in the R wallet and the money in the R wallet can be loaded from any UTS counter or online on www.utsonmobile.indianrail.gov.in," he said.
"For paperless ticketing, a good GPS coverage and GPRS connectivity should be available. Geo-fencing area has been earmarked for booking the tickets under which a person should be 2 kms from the originating station and beyond 30 metres from the station premises/track," Kumar said. He further said, "The application provides necessary on-screen alerts to guide the passenger during the booking process and he has to start the journey within 1 hour as per policy for suburban sections."
"Ticket booked in paperless mode cannot be cancelled in order to prevent claiming of refund after travel and the ticket has distinct colour scheme everyday and it is embedded with Quick Response (QR) code. It cannot be forwarded to another mobile or edited or printed. The old invalid tickets will be removed from the mobile device through a sync feature in the app," Kumar added.