Indian Railways updates UTS app for cashless ticketing with smartphones

Moving ahead in line with digital India, railways today launched mobile application for paperless unreserved tickets. Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu introduced from here the mobile app for paperless unreserved ticketing for commuters in Egmore and Tambram suburban sections in Chennai under Southern Railway zone. Developed by Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) “utsonmobile” – the paperless unreserved ticketing feature in mobile application aims to eliminate the need for printing of unreserved tickets. “It was a budget proposal to provide paperless tickets in unreserved segment and we implemented it today,” Prabhu said after launching the system here. On a pilot basis, the paperless ticketing system in unreserved segment will cover 15 stations in the suburban section of Southern Railway, officials said. Railways plan to extend the paperless service in suburban section in all metros. The app, which is for both Android and Windows platforms, can be downloaded from Google Play Store or Windows Store and used by the user. The app provides necessary on-screen alerts to guide the passenger during the booking process. Payment for the ticket is done through the “railway wallet” feature in the App. After booking the ticket, the passenger will get ticket confirmation screen, which will contain limited information about the ticket, they said. Expressing hope that the system will increase transparency and efficiency, Prabhu asked railway staff to come forward with new innovative ideas to improve passenger service. He also appreciated the role of CRIS in making the system operational in the shortest possible time and also announced a reward of Rs 4 lakh to the organization. The passenger has to use the ticket within an hour of booking the ticket as per the policy of suburban sections. Also the ticket will have distinct color scheme everyday and it cannot be forwarded to another mobile, they said. More than one crore passenger travel daily in unreserved segment and railways uses 1200 metric ton paper every year for printing unreserved tickets, they added. PTI