Mumbai gets automatic ticket vending machines for suburban sections

Mumbai, Oct 11 (UNI) Western Railway General Manager A K Jhingron inaugurated an automatic ticket vending machine (ATVM) by taking the very first ticket through the newly-installed device at the Churchgate station here today.

The installation of the ATVM is part of the Railway Ministry's efforts to do away with the serpentine queues at the ticket counters across the country, and decongest the railway premises.

Initially, these machines have been provided over the Mumbai suburban section as a pilot project with 125 ATVMs on the Western Railway, which runs from Virar to Churchgate station.

''Of these 125 ATVMs, 117 machines have already been installed at various stations across the Western Railway,'' Mr Jhingron told media persons after inaugurating the machine at the Churchgate station.

Railway's nodal Information technology arm, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) has developed the software and the procurement of the equipment has also been done by the same agency.

''ATVM harnesses technology to provide convenient ticketing to the suburban passengers of Mumbai. The passenger can buy a smart card and select the windows on the station. He can then use this smart card on the user-friendly touch-screen-based ATVM to buy tickets for all the suburban stations of the Western and Central Railway,'' Mr Jhingron added.

A typical ATVM unit has a touch-screen facility, radio frequency identification reader, a writer and a thermal printer.

The passengers just need to feed their travel details into the ATVMs, pay either by cash, smart card or debit card, and collect their tickets.

''We are also getting another 175 machines, which will be installed on the Central Railway stations. In all, the Mumbai suburban section has been sanctioned 300 such machines,'' he informed.

UNI