6 Trains from (HYB)HYDERABAD DECAN to (KARD)Kaman Road

Taking forward the initiative of Hon’ble Prime Minister’s Digital India Mission, South Central Railway has put o­ne more step ahead by providing Hand Held Terminals with advanced features to its ticket checking staff which dispenses the need of carrying physical charts and making manual entries. These Hand Held Terminals (HHTs) will enable the ticket checking staff o­n-board to verify status of reserved passengers list of the entire train, get to know o­n the live status of vacant berths and allot the vacant berths between identified destinations to passengers in a wholly transparent manner.

Earlier, the HHTs were initially introduced o­n Indian Railways in Rajdhani & Shatabdi Express trains in the year 2019 and o­n South Central Railway, it was implemented in o­ne train viz., Secunderabad - Pune - Secunderabad Shatabdi Express.

Now, in addition to the above, Sixteen select trains have already been bought under this initiative. The ticket checking staff will be working with the latest HHTs in these sixteen trains which originate/terminate o­n SCR Zone. These trains include 3 pairs of Duronto Express trains between Secunderabad - Nizamuddin, Secunderabad - Visakhpatnam and Secunderabad - Lokamanya Tilak Terminus, 5 pairs of superfast trains viz., Satavahana Express, Pinakini Express, Ratnachal Express, Sirpur Kagaznagar Express, Vijayawada Intercity express. Training has been imparted to the ticket checking staff with regards to the working with HHTs. The transformative measure of introducing HHTs to enable checking and monitoring the live vacancy status aboard the train is expected to bring-in a revolutionary change in the standards of customer services. For this purpose, HHTs have been procured by the Zone to supply the same to the ticket checking staff.

Advantages of Hand Held Terminals

Ø The Ticket checking staff (TCs) can easily check the tickets of passengers and mark their occupation of the allotted accommodation. Accordingly, any vacancies that arise during the journey can immediately come to notice of the TCs who will be able to allot the same to needy passengers o­n train. Passengers will benefit from prompt allotment of vacant berths in the course of journey.

Ø Passengers will get real-time information about vacant berths at stations enroute. Berths can be allotted for the needy passengers in the next remote location in case of vacant accommodation, even when the train is in running condition.

Ø Information about cancellation done after the preparation of the charts are sent o­n an hourly basis to the Hand Held Terminal, thereby easily detecting fraudulent travel.

Ø Real-time charting will ensure greater transparency in allotment of berths, especially in case of vacant accommodation.

Ø The facility to enable live updates of passenger occupancy o­n train will ease upgrading of reserved accommodation already booked.

Ø Calculation of occupancy for food and bedrolls can be made instantly.

Ø Refund, if any, can be processed quickly as real-time data of vacancy position and occupancy is connected with PRS software.

Ø Communication between TCs of different coaches aboard the trains to clear RAC will be easy and quick.

Ø An eco-friendly move, the Hand Held Terminals will replace paper charts presently used by TCs o­n-board.

Shri Arun Kumar Jain, General Manager (Incharge) has complimented staff and officers of the commercial wing for implementing the paperless working through Digital mode in the form of HHTs in several trains. He stated that implementation of HHTs will be very much useful for travelling passengers as it brings more effective, transparent and real time working in the ticket checking system.