Those fed up of standing in long queues to purchase unreserved train tickets at Hubballi Railway Station now have an option in the form of smart cards being issued by the railways. Passengers can now buy unreserved train tickets at smart card-based Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs).
General Manager of South Western Railway Pradeep Kumar Saxena inaugurated four ATVMs here on Saturday and dedicated them to the service of passengers on the occasion of ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas’, the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Addressing a gathering after inaugurating a new facility, Mr. Saxena said that the commissioning of ATVMs would help, especially during rush hours.
“Passengers can now obtain tickets using their smart cards for their respective destinations in ordinary, express and superfast trains on the preferred route. In addition to this, the facility for renewal of season tickets and also issue of platform tickets are also provided,” he said.
Mr. Saxena said that the passengers should first buy a smart card at the booking windows at an initial payment of Rs. 100.
On purchase of the card, a currency of Rs. 52 will be credited in the card which can be used for purchasing unreserved tickets. Subsequently, the passengers can recharge the smart card for various denominations starting from Rs. 50 to Rs. 5,000, he explained. Divisional Railway Manager of Hubballi Division of SWR Arun Kumar Jain, and other senior officials including Sanjiv Roy, K. Harikrishnan, P. Ganeswara Rao, U. Krishna Murthy, Chandrasekhara Sastry and others were present.
Run for Unity
Mr. Saxena subsequently flagged off the ‘Run for Unity’ held as part of ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas’. Originating from Hubballi Railway Station, the run concluded at Railway Sports Ground. Mr Saxena also administered an oath to the participants.
