Eight railway stations in city go cashless

Digital facilities set up at three Central Railway and five Western Railway stations

Going digital: Cashless payments will be accepted at ticket and luggage counters, and at food stalls.

Mumbai: Railway passengers will now be able to transact without cash at eight Central and Western Railways stations in Mumbai.

“We are taking possible efforts to make each and every railway station cashless. Passengers should not be worried about the cash they have in their wallets when they are travelling,” said a railway official.

While 15 stations in the five Central Railway divisions are now completely cashless, only three of these are in Mumbai: Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Thane, and Lokmanya Tilak Terminus. Western Railway is also ready with infrastructure to make five stations — Churchgate, Mahalaxmi, Elphinstone Road, Dadar and Borivali — cashless.

At these eight stations, passengers can insist on paying with cards or mobile wallets at ticket, luggage and parcel counters and at food stalls. Toilets and water vending machines, however, will continue to accept cash for now. “We are in talks to make even these services cashless, and it will be done soon,” said Shailendra Kumar, Chief Commercial Manager, Central Railway.

Officials said private contractors at the stations have been directed to use e-wallet facilities like Paytm and BHIM for small payments.

The other Central Railway stations to go cashless are Pune, Miraj and Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Terminus (Kolhapur) in Pune division, Solapur, Kopergaon and Sainagar Shirdi in Solapur division, Bhusawal, Amrawati and Nashik Road in Bhusawal division, and Nagpur, Ballarshah and Wardha in Nagpur division.