Move will help in real-time updation of passenger charts

Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTE) on board Rajdhani Express and Shatabdi Express trains will have hand-held, SIM-enabled tablets with a list of reserved passengers from Tuesday. The initiative is a first for trains originating from Mumbai.

“It will help in updating the charts in the passenger reservation system (PRS), thereby benefiting waitlisted people,” said Aarti Parihar, senior divisional commercial manager, Western Railway-Mumbai.

Passenger lists are printed on paper and given to TTEs who, after checking tickets, update the PRS. The list made at the next station reflects the updated system. For instance, in case of the Mumbai-Delhi Rajdhani Express, the list is updated in Surat after Mumbai Central, which is the train’s originating station.

“At present, updates are done manually and can be time-consuming. The tablets will be directly synced to the PRS system,” a senior railway officer said.

By updating the lists on a real-time basis, waitlisted passengers will know sooner if they can get a confirmed berth or seat. Senior officials said this will also make allocation more transparent. “TTEs have some amount of discretionary powers to allocate vacant seats to passengers. However, under the new initiative, the unused berths and seats will be allotted automatically,” a senior Railway official said.

TTEs will continue to have the authority to allocate berths to passengers with tickets that have Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) status.

The initiative will also reduce the dependence on paper. The Center for Railway Information Systems has provided WR 52 tablets for the initiative.