In line with the Digital India mission, Western Railway has equipped its ticket-checking staff with handheld terminals. The devices have helped the organization reduce paper charts and improve the passenger experience, the Indian Express reported. The initiative started in 2018 with Shatabdi and Rajdhani Express trains.
According to the spokesperson of the Western Railway, Sumit Thakur, the handheld terminals have helped the ticket-checking staff in identifying vacant seats and ensuring that the RAC passengers are not overlooked.
In the last week, over 20,000 RAC passengers have been allotted berths. Similarly, vacant spaces are automatically taken to the next station where they can be utilized.
Over the last week, the number of vacant spots on the railways has been reduced by over 20,000. These spaces were released to the stations ahead of the scheduled time.
Salient features of the HHT device
With the help of handheld terminals, the ticket-checking staff can now verify the status of a passenger’s trip without having to go to the destination station. This method used to take up to a month.
The ease of ticket-checking has been greatly improved by the synchronization of HHTs with the Passenger Reservation System. This allows the staff to download and upload modified charts.
An offline version of the app allows ticket-checking staff to work seamlessly with the downloaded charts even if they don’t have internet connectivity.
The TTEs can now easily check the tickets of the passengers and mark the not turned up or turned up passengers. They can also make quick calculations of the occupancy of the beds and food in addition to the upgrading or downgrading of accommodations.
Moreover, the real-time data of vacancies and occupancy, which is synchronized with the PRS software, has helped the ticket-checking staff to process refunds faster without the requirement of handheld charts, a statement from the CPO of Southern Railways.
The Railway Ministry official had earlier told the Financial Express that in future the HHT devices will have the provision of Excess Fare Ticket (EFT) and Point of Sale (POS)/digital means of a collection of fare as well.