Railway Systems in India has turned into a tech-savvy, customer-friendly, Finally!

The Railway system in India is on a major innovations spree. From promising cleaner coaches and toilets to offering some serious dining variety, here’s how the government is making travelling by train cool again.

Clean-My-Coach App:

Fewer cockroaches onboard is always a good thing, we think. Long-distance train travelling is about to get more hygienic with this newly launched app which promises to get train coaches (and soiled toilets) cleaned in under 15 minutes. The app will allow travellers to file complaints online, which will be routed to the on-board housekeeping staff for quick remedying.

RISSTA App:

RISSTA (Railway interactive Security Solution for Travelers Assistance) – An Android mobile application for security of MMTS passengers of twin cities (Secunderabad & Hyderabad) was launched on 4th June, 2015. The utility of this App by MMTS passengers met with many positive results. On 9.6.2015 at 09.01 hrs. help button of RISSTA App was activated by a passenger named Shri Anil, Cell No. 9866123593 travelling in General Coach of Tr.No. 47176 (Lingampally-Falaknuma MMTS) when the train was passing Hi-Tech City Railway Station. Immediately, a message was automatically conveyed to next 3 MMTS stations. At Bharathnagar MMTS Railway station Sri. K.S.Naidu, Home Guard of RPF rushed to the passenger. The passenger made complaint that some persons are staying at doorways obstructing free movement of passengers while boarding / detraining. The persons standing at doorways were cleared at 09.05 hrs and the complainant sent a feedback through RISSTA App that “Escort attended at Bharathnagar”. In yet another incident, on 11.6.2015 at 18.11 hrs. help button of RISSTA App was activated by a passenger by name Shri Arun, Cell No. 9059638854, travelling in General Coach of Tr.No. 47163 (Falaknuma-Lingampally MMTS) while the train was passing Borabonda MMTS Railway station. Immediately, a message was conveyed to next 3 MMTS stations i.e Hi-tech City, Hafizpet and Chandanagar. At Hafizpet Railway station Shri.Ch.Sathya, Home Guard, rushed to the passenger. The passenger made complaint that some persons are standing at doorways obstructing free movement of passengers while boarding/detraining. The persons standing at doorways were cleared at 18.20 hrs. and the complainant sent a feedback via message that “Thanks. Your staff attended the train at Hafizpet”.

Google Maps App:

Google Transit, a feature in Google Maps, helps in planning public transport trips efficiently, and is available through Google Maps app on any Android or iOS device, as well as on the desktop. So, for example if you are traveling from Delhi to Hyderabad to visit your relatives. just open Google Maps on Android or iOS or your desktop PC and type the destination address. Google Transit will intelligently tell you, whether you should take a Metro or a bus to nearest Railway Station. It will also tell you the earliest and best train schedule for traveling to Hyderabad. And, it will let you know which kind of public transport to take after your reach Hyderabad to reach your destination. In short, it will give you full directions from point A to point B, across various transportation means including buses, Metro’s and Railways.

UTS On Mobile App for Android, Windows to buy tickets

Fulfilling yet another commitment of the Railway Budget 2015-16, the Minister of Railways Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu launched Mobile Application for Paperless Unreserved Ticketing through video conferencing on Egmore–Tambaram Suburban Section of Chennai, at a function here today. This is a pilot project covering 15 stations in Southern Railway and will be extended to entire country in phases. Referring his Railway Budget announcement, the Railway Minister said that for the passenger, the Indian Railways is committed to ‘Operation Five Minutes’ – that is, purchase of an unreserved ticket within five minutes and today’s launching of Paperless Unreserved Mobile Ticket is the first step in this area. He said that it will allow the passenger to buy a ticket on the move and allow him or her to board the train with the ticket secured on his or her mobile phone, without any need for printing the ticket. Shri Suresh Prabhu commended all the members of CRIS to develop the Paperless Unreserved Ticketing Mobile Application and hoped for speedy implementation of other IT projects in the pipeline. The railway Minister said that the innovative ideas are always welcome and said that he has set up ‘Kayakalp’ Council which will consider innovative ideas for the betterment of Indian Railways.

Metro Mitra:

Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation Ltd and Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (C-DAC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 24th April 2015 to jointly work for the development of a comprehensive Mobile Application for Transport information in Bangalore for the use of general public. The Mobile application will provide information about Metro routes, timings, fare and facilities like parking places, retail outlets and other amenities available in Metro stations. The application is also envisaged to include information about bus transport for multimodal trip planning for the urban commuters.

Cash on delivery:

Launched in Feburary this year, the railways introduced their ‘cash on delivery’ service exclusively for online ticketing, aimed at those passengers without access to net-banking facilities, a debit or credit card. Democracy lives, y’all.

Food catering by McDonald’s:

You can leave the theplas at home. In a January 2015 announcement, the gorvernment set new guidelines permitting all express and mail trains (that provide pantry car services) to start catering coronary-inducing ‘ready-to-eat’ meals from McDonald’s and Delhi’s cult favourite Nirula’s as add-on options.

Free WiFi:

Free WiFi will no longer be limited to luxury tourist trains. The Indian Railways, giving priority to express trains such as Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Duronto, is set to provide WiFi facilities to over 400 railway stations (in the initial phase). Kick-starting this initiative was Bangalore Railway Station in October last year, with Ahmedabad following suit in January. Plans are on to extend free WiFi internet facility to at least a dozen long-distance trains and major city stations in the country.

Convert waitlisted train tickets to airline tickets:

Buy a train ticket and fly? The IRCTC has tied-up with budget airline carrier GoAir, offering passengers the option to get their waitlisted train tickets converted to airline tickets. At a competitive fare, of course. Over 100 passengers have used this service since it launched last month. That’s 100 people who were smarter than you…

How BookMyTrain is delivering 4000 ‘Cash-on-Delivery’ based Tickets for IRCTC on a Monthly basis

While Cash-on-Delivery (COD) is considered a necessary evil in Indian e-commerce, it’s been a driving force for startups to  build trust with consumers who aren’t familiar with shopping for physical goods online. COD is still a widely preferred payment option for online shoppers, with over 60 per cent of overall e-commerce orders purchased with it.

Interestingly, India’s second largest digital commerce player, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation hadn’t considered COD payments for more than a decade. The public ticketing portal only recently introduced COD payments, powered by Noida-based startup BookMyTrain.

The simple thought behind launching BookMyTrain was to enable people to buy IRCTC tickets without divulging their credit or debit card details. “Many people, who otherwise have access to Internet (through mobiles or PCs), are still not able to purchase railway tickets online, despite the convenience that it offers, simply because they’re uncomfortable with using their debit or credit card online, or they don’t have net-banking access,” says Anurag Bajpai, co-founder of BookMyTrain.

When Anduril Technologies – BookMyTrain’s mother company- approached IRCTC with the COD option, its objective was simple – reach out to consumers who fall in the aformentioned bracket.

How it works?

Once you are on BookMyTrain’s website or app, click on the ‘Buy a Ticket’ tab to book your journey. Select the desired source, destination, quota and journey date. Accept the terms of booking, and mention your delivery address. Finally, confirm your booking by tendering your registered email/IRCTC’s username.

“The COD facility offered only by us on train tickets was in the larger interest of the common man, who either had to spend time, energy and money at reservation counters, or was harassed by travel agents and touts,” explains Anurag. IRCTC, which is also working towards easing train travel in India, understood the immense benefits of COD before adopting it.

Anurag has had previous experience in logistics and distribution from his work with First Flight Couriers for more than 17 years .

Besides web, the startup also offers its app on Android, Windows and iOS platforms. Apart from choosing the COD option, while buying tickets, a user can check her booking history, apply for refund or file a TDR.

Operational since February 2015, BookMyTrain has received an encouraging response so far. “We have over 75,000 registered users, and amassed more than 50,000 app downloads within 100 days,” states Anurag.

The platform closes 4,000 transactions on a monthly basis, 70 per cent of which are COD. The average ticket size is Rs 1,500-1,800, and maximum numbers of tickets are booked from Delhi/NCR, followed by Maharashtra and Karnataka.

For pan-Indian ticket delivery, the company has partnered with a last mile delivery service provider.

The startup plans to expand from 200 cities (at present) to 750 cities and towns in the next few weeks. It’s also prepared to serve a larger chunk of train travellers if IRCTC allows service providers like them, who are in the B2C segment, to enable ticket booking in 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. window as well.

Over the past 12 months, the newly elected central government has been taking a slew of steps to improve user experience.

Earlier in March, this year, Amazon won a bid to power IRCTC’s online retail arm, while Paytm partnered with IRCTC to offer its wallet for online ticket booking. The public portal struck an alliance with mydala, too, to offer better deals to customers.

Railways’ Cash-on-Delivery Service for E-Tickets 

Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd. (IRCTC), a public sector undertaking of the Ministry of Railways, has launched Cash on Delivery (CoD) service for e-tickets w.e.f. 01.01.2015 on pilot basis. The salient features of the scheme are as under:

Under this scheme, the customer books the tickets online through the following channels and opts for Cash on Delivery service or may make online payment:

 i. www.bookmytrain.com

iiBookmytrain App on Android platform.

iii.Bookmytrain App on Windows platform.

 iv.Bookmytrain App on BlackBerry platform.

 v.Bookmytrain App on iOS platform.

The customer can book tickets up to five days prior to commencement of journey.

Introduction of the scheme for facilitating the passengers and its proliferation based on feedback is a continuous and ongoing process.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha.

Train Ticket Cash on Delivery

IRCTC moves a new step a head to introduce Cash on Delivery ( CoD ) option for the e-Tickets. Indian Railway targeting CoD option for the customers who only wish to pay using Cash payment only.  This facility will work like book rail ticket online and payment done at the time of Ticket received on the registered address.

The Cash on Delivery option now available on Pilot basis and facility available on more than 200 Indian cities. Another term is that have to book the train ticket at least 5 days in advance.

Cash on Delivery Charges

Sleeper class ticket will cost Rs. 40 additional

AC Class ticket will cost Rs. 60 additional

How to book the Cash on Delivery Train Ticket?

You can book your Cash on Delivery train ticket by the help website named BookMyTrain.com

This website can login with existing IRCTC Login ID after verification or register as new user.

Hope this move will reduce number of customers using Railway counters to book the long trip train tickets