BENGALURU: To avert fraudulent unreserved railway tickets, the Bengaluru Railway Division on Sunday launched thermal printers for issuing tickets. Two such printers made their debut at two counters of KSR Bengaluru City station at the main entrance.
The KSR station issues approximately 12,000 and 13,000 open tickets daily.
Three more such printers - one each at railway stations at KR Puram, Sir M Visvesvaraya Terminal and Yesvantpur will make their debut on Monday.
Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (SDCM), Bengaluru Division, AV Krishna Chaitanya told TNIE, “In the recent past, multiple instances of duplicating unreserved tickets using printing machines have been reported in North India. The Railway Board has issued a directive to all zones in the country to put an end to the same. Hence, we have opted to switch to thermal printers which ensures tickets cannot be duplicated.”
Elaborating on the technology used in thermal printers, he said tickets are issued using heat sensors.
“A unique QR code is generated for each ticket, allowing TTEs to check any ticket randomly and verify the genuineness of it using an app created for the purpose. The thermal printer takes only 3 seconds to issue a ticket as compared to the 20 seconds taken by the dot matrix printer used presently. The process would be much faster, thereby making it quicker for the public to purchase them,” Chaitanya said.
On the other hand, when it comes to traditional printers, the ribbon cartridge should be changed after printing 1,000 tickets to ensure the impression is readable. “This need not be carried out in the case of thermal printers. Each counter stands to save Rs 52 on a daily basis, making it slightly economical too,” the SDCM said.
The printers which made their debut on Sunday issued 100 tickets each. “Since it was the launch, only a limited number was issued. They will be fully utilised on Monday,” he added.
By October 2025, the Division plans to issue 90% of its tickets through thermal printers only.