Ticket-checking aboard trains goes hi-tech on South Central Railway

Hyderabad:  South Central Railway (SCR) has taken the initiative to use high-end technology-based hand-held terminals (HHTs) onboard trains, acting upon the directive of Union Minister of Railways Piyush Goyal.

The HHTs would enable the ticket-checking staff verify the status of reserved passengers list of the entire train, get to know the live status of vacant berths and allot the vacant berths between identified destinations to passengers in a wholly transparent manner, a press release from the SCR said.

Passengers would benefit from prompt allotment of vacant berths during the course of the journey, the release said adding that passengers would get real-time information on vacant berths at stations en route.

The HHTs have recently been introduced on Indian Railways to cater to 51 Rajdhani and Shatabdi Express trains and South Central Railway is one among the identified zone to implement this computer-based passenger-centric project on a pilot basis, it said.

Under the project, 40 HHTs have been provided to the ticket-checking staff (TCs) on SCR, who work by the select trains.

Secunderabad divisional railway manager Amit Varadan last week handed over the first set of HTT instruments to the TCs on duty.

As the after-chart cancellations have been sent on an hourly basis to the HHTs, fraudulent travel can be easily detected.

Other advantages include refund, if any, can be processed quickly as real-time data of vacancy position and occupancy is connected to a PRS software.

Communication between TCs of different coaches aboard the trains to clear RAC would be easy and quick.

An eco-friendly move, the HHTs would replace paper charts presently used by TCs on-board, the release added.