The vending machine will help simplify railway ticket booking. One can also check time-tables on it.
What if you could get railway tickets from a kiosk near your house?
And that too without paying any extra charge to agents and avoiding the hassle of standing in a queue at the railway station.
For all those who think booking a railway ticket is a pain, a student at the National Institute of Design (NID) has come to your rescue.
A student of postgraduate diploma in product design discipline, Varun Gajjar, has designed a railway ticket vending machine to simplify railway ticket booking, checking railway timetable online, ticket confirmation report etc.
The machine that works on the lines of an ATM machine has additional features as compared to the existing kiosk on the railway platform.
Gajjar undertook the project as part of an ergonomically sound product. "Currently, passengers can book railway tickets online but not many people have access to internet and usage of online ticket booking facility. The railway ticket vending machine could be placed in small cabins like the ATMs. It allows people to book tickets, check routes and duration of journey, waiting list etc," he said.
According to Gajjar, the passenger has to select a travel route and related important details would be flashed on the screen. They can select details and press the 'confirm' button and the ticket will be booked online.
The smart machine will not dispense hard copy of the ticket until it receives money for the booking. The machine also has the option of bulk booking. Also, when you book the tickets, the machine will also provide you the preview of ticket to check information to avoid any bloopers in the ticket.
"The machine has the facility to give back the change to passengers. For example, if your ticket costs Rs132 and the passenger inserts Rs150, he will get Rs18 back," said Gajjar.
Besides, the machine also accepts debit and credit card.
Gajjar said once he completes his course he plans to get in touch with railway authorities to show them his people-friendly design.
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