Southern Railway gives a digital push for examining train tickets with hand-held terminals

The device would, among other things, help in faster allotment of vacant berths in coaches

To simplify the checking of train tickets by the examiners, the Southern Railway has distributed hand-held terminals (HHTs). The initiative is being carried out by the Indian Railways as part of Digital India Mission. The devices would avoid the use of paper.

B. Guganesan, Chief Public Relations Officer, Southern Railway, said as part of the digital drive, 857 HHTs had been allotted, of which 246 had been distributed to the Chennai division. In the State, the Salem division was given 124, Tiruchi division 101 and Madurai division 98.

Palakkad and Thiruvananthapuram divisions that come under the Southern Railway were distributed 140 and 148 HHTs respectively. Besides doing away with paper charts, the device would help in faster allotment of vacant berths in the coaches, bring transparency in allotment, a remote location facility and quicker refund process. Details of the availability of vacant berths are made known to the passengers through real-time information.

The HHTs were launched as a pilot project in the Southern Railway on December 31, 2018, in Chennai-Mysuru Shatabdi and Chennai-Coimbatore Shatabdi.