Indian Railways is India’s premier transport organization and the world’s second largest rail network after Russia. Union Railways Minister Lalo Prasad Yadav’s IT plans for the Indian Railways this year are something to talk about.
Among the few initiatives undertaken by Indian Railway,the one which draw more attention is issuing of tickets through net.Although this service was introduced many years back but it was limited to some major cities only.Now they intend to expand it all parts of the country.As such,e-tickets will be issued in petrol pumps,post offices,ATM's and to make online reservation more accessible Indian Railway have tied up hand with Internet service provider, SIFY ,to enable customers book tickets online.
In addition to the above there are more services that the railway minister has ordered like installation of more than 6000 automatic ticket vending machine across the country.Now tickets would be available with a press of a button by using credit cards.Central Railway is also thinking of issuing smart cards through which daily tickets can be purchased without wasting time standing in queues for hours.
Also successful tests were accomplished for high speed trains running at 300-350 km.Also more than 250 low budget hotels on unused railway land,campaign for cleanliness,and changes in fares of tickets are in the offering.
A common website integrating about 50 Indian Railway websites is also being developed with built-in facilities like e-ticketing and e-tendering.A web portal will be developed in next 3 years especially to attract traffic for filling vacant seats. A train inquiry call center in all four zones will be set up in the later half of the current year with SMS alerts. The call center will also provide tickets,hotel and taxi booking services.
A proposal to provide hand held computers to TTE's is also on the pipeline.The way it will work is that TTE's will feed current situation of vacancies both coach and berth wise in the hand held computers which will directly linked to passenger reservation system(PRS) to allot vacant seats to wait listed passengers hand-to-hand.
Moreover,the Railways is planning on collaborating with the Russian Railways to offer state-of-the -art technologies in railway automation,safety,collision repair,and monitoring of rail network through Global Positioning System (GPS).
The latest instance of increasing use of technology in railways in the installation of LCD television screens behind seats in the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Shatabdi Express.A forward looking measure that will offer passengers the perfect oppurtunity to catch up with some infotainment while traveling.
Considering the implementation of the technical advances listed above,in coming years indian Railways may well stand in the first position in both technological advancement and size in the world.
