Railways to take fun out of sendoffs
Railways plan a saftey zone on the platform beyond which the family of passengers will not be allowed.
By Rajat Guha, TNN |
NEW DELHI: INDIAN Railways may soon launch a decongestion drive for its stations. Railway stations may not be a thoroughfare any more as Rail Bhawan plans to allow only passengers to access platforms. Relatives and friends would no longer be allowed inside the platform. “There will be a safety zone on the platform beyond which the family and friends of passengers will not be allowed,” a source said. An announcement to this effect is expected in the railway budget. The move is also a part of railway modernisation plan for select 22 cities.
It would be first implemented in Delhi and later replicated in other major cities. The other cities include Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Indore and Bhopal. “A photo identification proof will go a long way in curbing ticketless travel to a great extent. The railways face a major revenue loss every year due to ticketless travelling,” a senior railway official said. The identity proof should have any of these: driving licence, passport, voter ID card or PAN card.
Moreover, a safety zone would be created in the railway stations. “People who accompany passengers will not be permitted to enter beyond a point at the stations. There would be a waiting lounge at every station for the purpose,” the official said.
Also, there is a proposal to arm the ticket checkers with handhelds in place of the ubiquitous registers. If implemented, the move could significantly increase transparency in the seat allocation process for waitlisted train passengers. The railways are considering a pilot project under which ticket examiners would be given handheld devices, where details of travellers would be fed in. The handheld devices would remain connected to the railways reservation database, the PRS, through a wireless service provider’s broadband network. Many railways in Europe and the US provide ticket checkers handheld devices.
rajat.guha@timesgroup.com
It would be first implemented in Delhi and later replicated in other major cities. The other cities include Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Jaipur, Indore and Bhopal. “A photo identification proof will go a long way in curbing ticketless travel to a great extent. The railways face a major revenue loss every year due to ticketless travelling,” a senior railway official said. The identity proof should have any of these: driving licence, passport, voter ID card or PAN card.
Moreover, a safety zone would be created in the railway stations. “People who accompany passengers will not be permitted to enter beyond a point at the stations. There would be a waiting lounge at every station for the purpose,” the official said.
Also, there is a proposal to arm the ticket checkers with handhelds in place of the ubiquitous registers. If implemented, the move could significantly increase transparency in the seat allocation process for waitlisted train passengers. The railways are considering a pilot project under which ticket examiners would be given handheld devices, where details of travellers would be fed in. The handheld devices would remain connected to the railways reservation database, the PRS, through a wireless service provider’s broadband network. Many railways in Europe and the US provide ticket checkers handheld devices.
rajat.guha@timesgroup.com
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