South Western Railway ticketing-app gets 17,235 users in a month
What's the story
On February 8, the South Western Railway (SWR) had launched an unreserved ticketing app, and just within a month, it has received a whopping 17,235 registered users.
"Around 2,000 passengers use the app daily, which translates into a ticket revenue of Rs. 20,000-40,000 per day," said NS Sridharamurthy, senior divisional commercial manager, SWR.
Maximum users were from Bengaluru, followed by Mysuru and Hubballi.
Information
How to use the unreserved ticketing system (UTS) app
Through this app, you can buy unreserved train tickets, issue/renew season tickets, cancel tickets and book platform tickets through R-wallet/PayTM/Mobikwik. Commuters have to be within 5kms of the origin station while booking, and journey has to start within three hours.
Drawbacks
Despite popularity, app faces several glitches
Though the app is a hit, it is facing several drawbacks.
It is still unavailable in iOS and transferring of balance upon changing the mobile phone or phone number is not yet possible.
There are connectivity issues as well.
Moroever, "the user needs to be at least 20-25m from the track to book a ticket through UTS," a rail advocacy group member said.
Solutions
SWR working on solving the problems
When asked about these issues, Sridharamurthy said, "Users can contact our customer care once they change their handsets or phone numbers to transfer the balance amount.
"We will soon launch the app in iOS platform as well," he added.
Through UTS, you can book paperless tickets for within SWR, but outside, you will have to get printed ones from Automatic Ticket Vending Machines.