Soon, Insert Coins and Cash Into Machines to Get Train Tickets

Soon, Insert Coins and Cash Into Machines to Get Train Tickets

CHENNAI: Suburban stations in Chennai will soon get Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVM) where commuters can insert Rs 5 and Rs 10 coins and get tickets within 60 seconds.

This is a part of the Railway Ministry’s plan to reduce the time spent by customers standing in serpentine queues to procure tickets at station counters. This is the second such scheme for commuters in the Chennai suburban train network, after the mobile-ticketing facility was introduced earlier this year.

An official circular from the Railway Board stated that platform and unreserved tickets can be procured from the Cash-Coin and Smart Card operated Ticket Vending Machines (CoTVM), which will be unmanned. Officials of the Madras Division of Southern Railway indicated that the headquarters had been notified and the machines would be in place by next month. “We have zeroed in on a few locations. Initially, there might be a provision for only first-class tickets as we would be trying out the machines on a pilot basis,” said an official.

As per the official procedure, the CoTVM will have slots to accept Rs 5 and Rs 10 coins as well as notes of denomination from Rs 5 to Rs 1,000. Instructions will be displayed on the machine to indicate which notes and coins would be accepted.

The passenger would have to submit the exact ticket fare in notes and coins inside the machine within 60 seconds. In case the entire amount has not been inserted within the stipulated time, the transaction will be cancelled and the amount will be returned.

No additional booking charge will be taken for tickets bought from the CoTVM. The printed ticket will have all the details similar to those obtained from the counter.  Season tickets, platform tickets, second-class tickets for maximum of four passengers and first-class ticket for one passenger can be bought from the CoTVM, said the official circular. The machines would also have a provision for booking tickets using smart cards, which can be procured only from specific railway counters.

The CoTVM is likely to attract the majority of the one million daily commuters, who don’t have access to smartphones and continue to spend at least 10 minutes in the queues at ticket counters during peak hours. “CoTVM corrects one major flaw of the mobile-ticketing system. Season tickets can’t be procured through m-ticketing. They form around 60 per cent of the daily commuters. CoTVM will offer them that facility,” an official stated.

Source: The Indian Express.