A Step Towards Digital India: Railway Launches App For Unreserved Ticket Booking

Image Source: ibtimes

The Railway Ministry is on a roll when it comes to the digitization of its services. Railways minister Suresh Prabhu launched three IT enabled applications and services for railways on Wednesday.

It includes:
■ IT-enabled handheld terminals for travelling ticket examiners (TTEs)
■ A paperless unreserved ticketing mobile application called ‘utsonmobile’ and
■ A facility for E-booking of disposable linen on trains.

In this article, We are going to discuss Utsonmobile App.

The Utsonmobile App has been developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS). The paperless unreserved ticketing feature in the mobile application aims to eliminate the need for printing of unreserved tickets. The app can be downloaded from the Google Play store and from Windows Store for android and windows devices respectively.

Here is how it works:
■ After downloading Utsonmobile, a passenger has to register his/her mobile number through the smartphone or by visiting the website.
■ Upon successful registration, Railway Wallet (R-Wallet) will be created automatically with zero balance to the passenger. There will be no extra cost for creating R-Wallet.
■ The R-Wallet can be recharged either at any of the UTS counter or through recharge option available in the website.
■ Currently, Paperless Ticket can be booked for Journey Ticket, Season Ticket and Platform Ticket. Platform Ticket booking is allowed for some selected stations only.
■ In case internet connection of the mobile is not up, then ticket booking is not allowed.
■ No advance ticket booking is allowed i.e., the journey date will always be the current date.
■ Ticket will be delivered in the mobile application itself. Whenever Ticket Checking Staff asks for it, the passenger will use ‘Show Ticket’ option in the app. The mobile should be GPS enabled and once booked the ticket cannot be cancelled.

What This App Achieves:
This will help in reducing the wastage of paper. At the same time, it will help to decrease the long queue we see on ticket counters.

The Logical Indian Community congratulates Railways for taking the initiative. We hope the ministry keeps coming up with lot more initiatives that will make train travel a pleasant and safe for everyone.

You can find more information about the stations list here.