On Central and Western Railway, around 25 percent and around 18 percent sale is through ATVM, respectively.
Indian Railways is seeing increasing demand for card ticket and mobile ticketing. On Central and Western Railway, around 25 percent and around 18 percent sale is through ATVM, respectively.
Railway officials claim that they are doing everything to promote ATVMs and are in fact also getting new ones. "We are in the process of getting newer ATVMs. As of now, the sale of tickets using smart cards is showing improvement," said SK Jain, Divisional Railway Manager (Mumbai), Central Railway.
The CR authorities have got over 40-odd new, sleeker, red-silver coloured ATVMs, which are a part of the total 375 ATVMs operational on suburban section. The new ATVMs are still to come on the WR.
It is a known fact that there are issues and glitches in several of these old machines. The passengers keep complaining that these ATVMs are shut most of the time. "At several stations, one would find ATVMs switched off and people queuing at ticket counters," said Subhash Gupta, president, Rail Yatri Sangh.
This is a step towards going for an integrated transport system where the government machinery is working towards getting a single card for all modes of transport. This will be similar to the one like Oyster Card in London or Octopus in Singapore. The whole idea is to have gated stations with door frames at every entry/exit point, where the only way is to tap the card on the screens.
The authorities are thinking of levying a refundable security deposit of Rs 50 against each card. Initially, they will target 10 lakh commuters, who form around 15 per cent of the total lot who buy daily tickets. The ticket checking staff will be given hand-held devices to check the validity of smart cards.
SECOND TIME'S THE CHARM
This is the second attempt of the government to provide single smart cards for all modes of transport; it was first conceived in 2006 and implemented in 2007 as ‘Go Mumbai’ card. But the scheme was scrapped in 2010.
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