The Hindu : Front Page : Ticket vending machines at rail stations

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Wednesday, Mar 26, 2008
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Ticket vending machines at rail stations

Staff Reporter

The facility will serve suburban commuters at 191 stations

— Photo: V. Ganesan

EASY TO USE: A commuter operates the automatic ticket vending machine at Moore Market Complex in Chennai Central railway station on Tuesday.

Chennai: Southern Railway will provide 455 automatic ticket vending machines (ATVM) in 191 stations in a phased manner during 2008–09, Union Minister of State for Railways R. Velu said here on Sunday.

Mr.Velu commissioned the first batch of machines that would issue tickets for suburban rail commuters. Smart cards can be used to purchase the tickets. Passengers can select the destination by making a choice on the touch screen. The procedure is similar to drawing cash from an ATM.

The facility would be available at Chennai Central Moore Market Complex, Beach, Fort, Park, Nungambakkam, Kodambakkam, Mambalam, Saidapet, Guindy, St. Thomas Mount, Pazhavanthangal, Tirusoolam, Meenambakkam, Pallavaram, Chromepet, Mylapore, Tambaram and Chepauk stations. About 9 lakh people use suburban rail transport every day.

“At present, the ATVMs are only for suburban train tickets. But the concept would be gradually extended to other services,” Mr. Velu said. Each ATVM costs Rs. 3.51 lakh.

Southern Railway General Manager Rakesh Chopra said smart cards could be purchased by a passenger at Rs.100, of which Rs.50 is a refundable caution deposit. The cards are valid for six months from the time of last recharge and can be recharged for a value ranging from Rs.50 to Rs.2,000 in multiples of Rs.50. They can be bought at railway counters and can also be used to purchase platform tickets. No refunds are permitted on lost tickets and a duplicate ticket is provided at Rs.10.

“The ATVMs will go a long way in reducing queues in suburban stations as the transaction is cashless and convenient. The time taken to print a ticket is less than a second,” Mr. Chopra said. A bonus is that a passenger can recharge a card for Rs.100 and travel for Rs.105.

Divisional Railway Manager Man Singh said that two ATVMs that issued tickets on feeding of coins had been installed earlier at Moore Market Complex. However, they had failed to function well. The new ATVMs that use Smart Card technology would be more effective, he said.

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