e-tickets form 98% of online rail reservations

E-tickets accounted for 98 per cent of the total 6.85 crore train tickets, booked online till October-end in the current fiscal.

With e-ticket (electronic ticket) booking facility, the Railways allowed passengers to take a ticket print-out at their end after booking the ticket. The i-ticket (Internet-ticket) facility, introduced by the Railways in 2002-03, allows users to book a ticket through the Internet.

But the ticket print-out is taken by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and delivered by post to the passengers.

The Railways — which launched e-tickets in 2005 after about a year of delay since the proposal was envisaged — feared that the e-tickets may be misused. E-tickets have proven to be a hit since their launch. Apart from the sheer ease of taking the print-out at the user’s end without having to wait for a courier delivery, the fact that the service charge for booking e-tickets are cheaper than i-tickets also helped.

Additionally, the Railways has also allowed booking of waitlisted e-tickets and allowed other flexibilities including changing the place of boarding.

As for travel agents, IRCTC has widened the reach of e-tickets by authorising 80 large groups to book e-tickets on behalf of IRCTC. Earlier, IRCTC operated purely on a B2C (business-to-consumer) model, but now it also operates on a B2B (business-to-business) model.

The groups — which provide e-ticket booking services — include makemytrip.com, cleartrip.com, ITZ, onestopshop.in, Ministry of Defence and about 20 State Governments at their kiosks under the e-governance model.

I-tickets are still primarily used by the elderly.

http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2009/12/01/stories/2009120152050100.htm

Now, battery cars for physically challenged at rly stns

ALLAHABAD: World Disabled Day was a good enough reason to bring smile on those hundreds of faces who dream of travelling in a train but their physical disability stands as a barrier.

The Allahabad division of North Central Railway would now ply battery operated cars at some of the selected stations to help physically challenged people so that they can easily board the train without facing problems. The decision to introduce the cars had been taken in tune with the directives of Railway Board. The battery operated cars would be available at Allahabad, Kanpur, Firozabad, Fatehpur, Aligarh, Tundla and Mirzapur which come under the Allahabad division of North Central Railway.

It has been generally observed that the disabled and old passengers face a considerable amount of difficulty in making movement on the platforms and boarding the trains. Though there is provision of the wheel-chair but it is seldom used. Further, it requires additional manpower to ferry the disabled and the old persons to the respective platforms. To ease their problem, these cars have been designed to carry them on the platforms, this service would be available round the clock at the station and no fees would be charged for using this service. There were many instances where disabled persons had met with serious accidents while boarding the train. But with the arrival of this special vehicle, the problems of the disabled and elderly persons would be mitigated to a certain extent.

To make arrangements for the passengers, Railways had invited proposals from the private party. The latter would be entitled to display the advertisement on the vehicles panel with certain conditions which include that no charge would be levied either from the passenger or from the Railways. Railways will provide only free electricity for charging the batteries of the vehicle. Party shall be allowed to advertise on the panel of the vehicle which shall be bound by the guidelines stipulated for advertisement on the railway premises. The vehicle shall be used to cater only the disabled and old aged passengers. An agreement with the party shall be entered into for a period of maximum one year. Repair, maintenance and replacement, if required will be done by the party.

Spokesperson, North Central Railway RD Bajpai informed TOI that the facility of battery operated cars at the stations would go a long way in ameliorating the problems of the handicapped and old persons.

 http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/allahabad/Now-small-cars-for-physically-challenged-at-rly-stns/articleshow/5293210.cms

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CCTVs for Metro stations to prevent suicides

KOLKATA: To prevent the frequent disruptions in the services of the Metro Railway caused by passengers committing suicides — with as many as 14 incidents reported this year — all stations will be equipped with close circuit television (CCTV) cameras, officials said here on Friday.

“Ten colour CCTV cameras will be installed in each of the 21 Metro stations that will continuously screen passengers on the platform,” said R.N. Mahapatra, spokesperson for Metro Railway.

The feed from the cameras will be monitored by the security control manned by the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Central Control.

Installing these cameras will also help in preventing accidents and keeping track on passenger traffic, he said.

If a person is loitering on the platform for more than 20 minutes without boarding a train, security personnel will be alerted, Mr. Mahapatra said.

Hotlines to the each station have also been installed which will allow quick response teams to respond.

There have been 14 suicide attempts in 2009 of which nine resulted in deaths. The issue has become a matter of concern for the authorities, he said.

“We also approached certain NGOs in the city to help reduce the suicide incidents,” he said, adding that some NGOs have come forward with literature and even helped with providing details of 24-hour helplines.

The first time a person committed suicide on the Metro track was in 1988. There have been 183 attempts since then, of which 85 have been fatal, Mr. Mahapatra added.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/12/05/stories/2009120557881800.htm

Oscillation Monitoring System (OMS) to monitor railway tracks

Owing to the rising number of accidents, the Railways has come under scrutiny and pressure to adopt safety measures.

As a result, a modern instrumentation system, based on automatic detection techniques, to monitor track irregularities has been adopted.

After certain trials, the Ambala Division has approved the Oscillation Monitoring System (OMS) for maintaining tracks and railway vehicles (coaches, wagons and locomotives).

“Keeping pace with technology, the Railways has adopted a state-of-the-art system to detect the condition of tracks and railway vehicles. OMS is an advanced portable instrument which continuously measures vertical and lateral accelerations at any desired location on the floor of a carriage while in motion,” said Ambala Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) H K Jaggi. The Division has already conducted successful trials on the system from Kalka to Ambala and Ambala to Jalandhar section.

The DRM said the system was running under trial in other sections too. “With favourable results, the system has been gradually applied to more sections in the division, including Chandigarh. This would be further increased in the coming months, gradually covering the entire division,” added Jaggi.

Till now, the track and railway vehicles maintenance was done manually, which consumed more time and labour.

The technology was developed last year by Central Scientific Instruments Organisation (CSIO), Chandigarh.

CSIO Director Dr Pawan Kapur said, “OMS helps to detect deterioration and stress patterns of the tracks, if any, which has great significance as detection is important to avoid an accident

The OMS technology is said to play an important role to facilitate high speed trains, which the Railways has proposed, as they require constant monitoring of tracks.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/technology-comes-to-rescue-no-more-manual-maintenance-of-railway-tracks/549113/2

Status of train tickets through mobile phones

A pilot project on “SMS alert service for e-ticket customers” has been launched by Indian Railways. In this service, “Ticket Booking Confirmation” irrespective of the status of booking is given to e-ticket customers. This service has since become available from the 2nd week of November 2009.

This information was given by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways, Shri E. Ahamed in a written reply in Rajya Sabha today.

http://www.pib.nic.in/release/release.asp?relid=55140&kwd=

WR to launch literacy drive for workers

In a first-of-its kind initiative, the Vadodara division of Western Railway will soon be carrying out a literacy drive for its employees. The initiative, which will start from the first week of December, will provide formal education to all illiterate Class III and IV employees.

The project has been initiated after routine rounds of inspection found that workers in the lower cadre are harassed and exploited due to their being illiterate.

The project will be undertaken in order to empower the workers and equip them to deal with such situations within the system.

“We are trying to include as many workers as possible in various departments. Officials in the railway police force, porters and other workers will also be included. We are in the process of tying up with a non-government organisation that will help us in the programme,” said A K Srivastava, Divisional Railway Manager, Vadodara.

http://www.indianexpress.com/news/wr-to-launch-literacy-drive-for-class-iii-iv-workers/546350/

Cox & Kings, IRCTC to launch luxury train by Jan 2010

The Cox and Kings (India) Ltd, the country’s leading travel and hospitality firm, in a 50:50 joint venture with the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC), will launch luxury train–Maharajas’ Express–by January 2010.

The project entails an investment of Rs 45 crore and ”the train will cover pan-India,” company CFO Anil Khandelwal said here today, adding that the train has the capacity to carry 84 passengers.

The train, featuring luxuriously 23 carriages equipped with every modern amenity and comfort, will run between Mumbai and Kolkata and traverse through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi and in the next step, it will cover Agra, Khajuraho, Bandhavgarh, Varanasi and Gaya. The travel and hospitality company is planning to raise up to Rs 610.39 crore through an initial public offer, which opens on November 18 and closes on November 20.

http://news.webindia123.com/news/ar_showdetails.asp?id=911160554&cat=&n_date=20091116

Railways to unveil special tourism package

MYSORE: For the ensuing holiday season, the Railways will unveil a special tourism package originating from Mysore to different parts of South India.

Buoyed by the response to its tourism promotion, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has decided to include Mysore — a major tourist centre — as the embarking point for different tours to be launched by the corporation in due course.

Speaking to The-Hindu, S. Gagarin, Chief Regional Manager, IRCTC, South Western Railways, said the package tours will be launched by the second or third week of December and tourists visiting Mysore who wish to venture and explore further south at an affordable rate, as also people of Mysore and surrounding region, can avail themselves of the facility.

The package has been well designed and for the tourists hard-pressed for time as also those looking for a break, and it includes confirmed train tickets, transportation apart from lodging and boarding. “Catering to the residents of Mysore, IRCTC will roll out a new package operational to Chennai-Puducherry-Mahabalipuram-Tirupati-Kanchipuram” circuit”, Mr. Gagarin said.

Giving details of the itinerary which will become operational from December, he said the Mysore-Puducherry-Mahabalipuram-Tirupati-Kanchipuram trip will be covered in five nights and six days. Mr. Gagarin said the prices were competitive with assured accommodation on trains and onward journey by road apart from accommodation.

The IRCTC is also coming out with the rail tour packages for Madurai-Kanyakumari and Rameshwaram circuit with embarkation by train no. 6732 Tuticorin Express. This package will be operational by January 2010. These are special packages to cater to special needs of the tourists, said Mr. Gagarin and pointed out that in addition there were other packages from Mysore, which had proved to be popular.

This includes the Mysore-Tirupati package and also Bangalore-Shirdi package for which however, the boarding point is Bangalore. Mr. Gagarin said the pilgrimage circuit to Shirdi was immensely popular and there was daily departure by the Karnataka Express, and people of Mysore could avail themselves of it.

A few more circuits could be rolled out in future depending on the response to the new packages, said Mr. Gagarin who pointed out that IRCTC — which is a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) of Indian Railways — was on the fast-track to develop rail-based tourism in India ( www.railtourismindia.com) and was hence exploring new vistas to spread its footprint and make itself the obvious choice for tourists.

http://www.hindu.com/2009/11/16/stories/2009111653840700.htm

Punjab to launch tourism train originating from Delhi

MOHALI: Punjab Jail and Tourism minsiter Hira Singh Gabria Friday said that a master plan has been prepared for promotion of tourism in the state. He said that a foreign firm was engaged to prepare master plan.

The company has selected Ropar, Nangal and Ananadpur Sahib for tourism development in the first phase. He said that toursim train, an ambition project of state government was ready for launch. He said that train would be launched with participation of Punjab, center government and railways. He said the train will start from Delhi and directly go to Amritsar. After two days stay in Amritsar train would go to Pathankot, Nangal, Anandpur Sahib and Ropar. It will go to Chandigarh Patiala and back to Delhi. He said that theme of Punjab would be focus of train.

http://www.punjabnewsline.com/content/view/20852/38/

Northern Railway introduces smart card

New Delhi, Nov 13 (PTI) Daily commuters no more need to stand in long queues to purchase tickets for local trains as Northern Railway has decided to introduce smart card-based ticketing system in 30 stations in the NCR region from next week.

The system, which has entailed an investment of Rs 3.21 crore will ensure that suburban passengers need not stand in long queues and instead use smart cards to buy ticket to their destinations, sources said.

“In all, 75 vending machines have been installed in stations falling between Delhi and Palwal and they will start functioning from next week onwards,” they said.

The smart card will be available in ticket booking counters and will come in denomination ranging from Rs 50 to Rs 1000.

Official figures indicate that at present, 70,000 to 80,000 tickets are sold in the Delhi region per day.

http://www.ptinews.com/news/375882_Northern-Railway-introduces-smart-card