Railways plans e-tailing of monthly season tickets
Move Aimed At Cutting Queues At Rly Stations
The railways is planning
to rope in e-tailers to deliver monthly season tickets (MSTs) to
suburban commuters. The purpose is to reduce rush at booking counters.
At present, commuters can book MSTs through the railways' e-ticketing
portal, irctc.co.in. IRCTC takes three to four days to deliver the
tickets, free of cost, by courier. While the delivery system will be
similar, commuters will have the option of logging onto other sites to
book tickets.
“If we tie up with e-tailers, more people will prefer to buy season tickets online. Even if 50% of the people who queue up at booking counters start booking online, there will be faster delivery of tickets at stations,“ said a railway official.
Articulating the plan, the official said, “The idea is under consideration after we studied the tremendous response online shopping websites get. A ticket booked online can be delivered at a railway station of the commuter's preference, his residence or workplace.“
Every day , IRCTC delivers 100-150 season tickets. After the railways tie up with e-tailers, the daily delivery figures will increase manifold.
On an average, 60,000 season tickets are sold on Central Railway and 40,000 on Western Railway . “It is better to have more players in the field instead of relying solely on IRCTC,“ the official said. “Also, some concession can be offered if bookings of season tickets are done in bulk. For example, if a group of employees at a firm book online, it will entail bulk delivery , thus reducing the cost of transportation.“
He said another option under consideration is electronic clearing service. “A commuter can fill up basic details like name, and travel points and duration, and authorize the booking site to automatically deduct money from his account and send him the ticket.“
“If we tie up with e-tailers, more people will prefer to buy season tickets online. Even if 50% of the people who queue up at booking counters start booking online, there will be faster delivery of tickets at stations,“ said a railway official.
Articulating the plan, the official said, “The idea is under consideration after we studied the tremendous response online shopping websites get. A ticket booked online can be delivered at a railway station of the commuter's preference, his residence or workplace.“
Every day , IRCTC delivers 100-150 season tickets. After the railways tie up with e-tailers, the daily delivery figures will increase manifold.
On an average, 60,000 season tickets are sold on Central Railway and 40,000 on Western Railway . “It is better to have more players in the field instead of relying solely on IRCTC,“ the official said. “Also, some concession can be offered if bookings of season tickets are done in bulk. For example, if a group of employees at a firm book online, it will entail bulk delivery , thus reducing the cost of transportation.“
He said another option under consideration is electronic clearing service. “A commuter can fill up basic details like name, and travel points and duration, and authorize the booking site to automatically deduct money from his account and send him the ticket.“
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