“It is encouraging to note that paperless unreserved tickets have moved up from 195 in 2014-15 to 67,000 last year,” Goyal pointed out. (PTI)

Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Thursday said with the use of technology, paperless unreserved tickets have seen a massive rise in the last three years. “Technology can be the defining factor that will help Indian Railways change both its direction and its face. There are so many new transformations that the railways is working to improve tracks, safety, signalling, catering and punctuality,” he said at a seminar on ‘Leveraging IT for Mobility’.

“It is encouraging to note that paperless unreserved tickets have moved up from 195 in 2014-15 to 67,000 last year,” Goyal pointed out. He said a rapid scale-up of technology is what the nation expects. “And that’s where we can take the help of the private sector in helping us develop and use that technology,” he said.

He said that the railways has now taken Wi-Fi to 710 railway stations, which is best in the country in terms of speed. “I am proud of railwaymen who have done that. We have to make Indian Railways efficient, better and customise it for better customer experience by changing the mindset,” Goyal added.

The Railway Minister also launched a new mobile application named “AAPOORTI’ of the Indian Railways e-procurement system. According to the railway officials, the new application would provide information and data related to e-tendering and e-auction related activities of the Railways.