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A ritual that has been an integral part of train travel for the last several decades will soon start fading out. Charting, or the pasting of reservation charts on train coaches, will be discontinued from today across the. And along with it will also disappear that quick browse of the charts by travellers just before they got into their respective compartments. The reason for the move is not surprising. According to senior railways officials, about 70 percent of the 11 lakh railwaysold daily across the country are booked over the internet.“And nearly everyone who books a ticket, including at the ticketing window, supplies a phone number to which relevant details regarding the tickets and the journey are sent. So, if you have a ticket in your email/phone, why would you need a reservation chart posted on each compartment,” says Sunil Udasi, chief public relations officer, Central Railways. In fact, CST, Mumbai Central and other major stations dispensed with the practice nearly four months ago, and trains that start from these terminuses have not carried reservation charts since March. Railways officials, however, said that physical charts would continue to be stuck on soft boards at platforms. Plus, according to a circular issued by Ministry of Railways, all stations will soon be equipped with electronic charts that will display the relevant details of each passenger, or with kiosks that will throw up information on the input of the PNR.Obviously, a lot of paper will be saved. At least 28 tons of it, says Ravinder Bhakar, chief public relation officer, Western Railway. “The focus will be on e-tickets, sending reservation information through SMS, digital display at platforms. Alternatively, people can also dial 139 for IVR assistance, or approach the TTE of the train,” said BhakarAccording toofficials, charting has been around since the time reservations came into the picture. “When the railways first began operations, you only had general compartments. Then, with reservations, you had hand-written charts, which were replaced first by charts prepared on type-writers and then printers came into use,” says Udasi.It does look like travellers will take some time to adapt to the snipping of a practice that provided an added dash of reassurance. Sunil Sharma, a saloon owner, who was on his way to Howrah from CST on Friday, kept wandering along his train looking for a relevant reservation chart. On being informed that the details would have been sent to his cellphone or email, Sharma, a hairstylist, looked a little befuddled. “But it’s always nice to find your name on the chart,” he said, before getting into his compartment.