The serpentine queue in front of railway ticket counters may be a thing of the past if a plan by the Indian Railways to set up 6,344 automatic ticket vending machines (ATVM) at stations across the country materialises.
The vending machines will be for sale of unreserved journey tickets which constitute 90% of the total tickets sold in a day. Passengers can get tickets from the machines by using currency notes as well as smart cards. "There is always a great rush at ticket counters. Whether local or long distance trains, the queue is maximum for unreserved tickets. So, the move is aimed at reducing the rush at ticket counters," said a senior railway official.
"The ATVM will be equipped with a touch-screen system where a passenger has to feed information like destination, number of tickets to be purchased, adult or children etc. Besides using the smart card, the passenger will have the option to use currency notes. After deducting the exact fare, the vending machine will return the balance," the official added.
The ATVMs are operational in many countries in Europe and the US and Singapore. It costs about Rs 1.5 lakh to install one ATVM. PTI
