Revised Railway Timetable of S.Rly to be effective from 1 july

The revised timetable of Southern Railways will come in to effect from Monday. However, none of the new trains announced in this year’s railway budget for the two divisions in the state – Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad – will start service from Monday. The main reason behind the non-introduction of trains is unavailability of rakes, according to division authorities.

From Monday, frequency of Bangalore – Kochuveli express (16315/16316) will be increased to six days a week. From September 4, Kochuveli – Bangalore express (16316) and from September 5 Bangalore – Kochuveli express (16315) will run daily. Consequently, Thiruvananthapuram – Bangalore weekly express (16322/16321) will be cancelled with effect from September 4 and 5, respectively. On introduction of Bangalore – Nagercoil Express (17235/17236), the Bangalore – Nagercoil weekly express (16537/16538) will also be cancelled.

At the same time, the Ernakulam Jn – Thrissur MEMU service (66612), that is being operated on temporary basis, will be regularlized from Monday. The Kollam-Nagercoil MEMU service (66304) will also be regularized.

The Trivandrum-Kozhikode Jan Shatabdi express (12081/12082) will be extended till Kannur with additional stoppage at Vadakara and Thalassery.

According to the authorities none of the new trains will start service in the near future.

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New Ticket Refund Rules to be effective from 1 July

From 1 July, Indian Railways will not refund your ticket if it is surrendered for cancellation two hours after the actual departure of the train, as per the revised refund rules.

According to the new rules, the confirmed ticket can now be surrendered for cancellation within six hours before the actual departure of the t rain, i nstead of four hours. Plus, no refund will be given on e-tickets having confirmed berth or seat if the request for cancellation is filed online two hours after the actual departure of the train.

“The revised rules would ensure early confirmation of RAC or waitlisted passengers or upgrading of passengers with a confirmed ticket,” said an official.

Earlier, passengers could get 50% of the fare as refund and the claims could be submitted up to 30 days after the departure of the train. But as per the revised rules, if the ticket is presented for cancellation at least 48 hours in advance, a full refund minus the stipulated cancellation charges will be allowed.
There had not been any major changes in the Railway Passengers (Cancellation of ticket and Refund of fare) Rules, 1998 in the last 15 years when a large number of changes took place in the ticketing system of Indian Railways, said officials.

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Cleartrip Starts Offering Train Ticketing On Android

Online travel agent Cleartrip has launched a new version of its Android application that will allow users to book Indian railway tickets and check PNR status. The app is available for download from the Google Play Store. It’s not clear when the company plans to introduce the service on its iOS app since it opens up Cleartrip’s mobile site on Safari to book train tickets.

To book railway tickets, one still has to connect their IRCTC account details with their Cleartrip account. I tried to sync my IRCTC account with my Cleartrip account and the process seems to a lot tedious. It asked us to enter login credentials of both the accounts, date of birth, address, among others. It then sends a one time password (OTP) on email and mobile. Once you enter both the OTPs it verifies your account. While I verified all the details, somehow it failed to sync with my IRCTC details. Remember that IRCTC had introduced one time registration process and had mandated that anyone who intend to book train tickets through third party websites like Cleartrip, MakeMyTrip, Yatra and others, to have an IRCTC account before booking a train ticket online. Cleartrip does not charge service fee for booking trains tickets.

However, one can still search train from one destination to another without syncing their IRCTC details. It lists out price of the ticket, time, and duration of the journey. To check the PNR number, one just has to enter their 10 digit PNR number and the app lists the status of the ticket.

Note that in 2008, Cleartrip had partnered with IRCTC to offer railway booking on their site. With this update, one can now book train tickets on their handset.

Cleartrip website also allows one to book tatkal quota ticket by selecting the checkbox next to the ‘Tatkal’ label on the search results page. It’s not clear whether the Android app also allows one to book tatkal tickets. Note that one has to pay extra to book tatkal quota tickets.

In May 2013, IRCTC had upgraded its website which can support bookings of more than 4.15 lakh e-tickets daily. Prior to this, IRCTC claims to have handled 3.67 lakhs e-tickets per day. The website can currently handle 2000 tickets per minute and claims that it future it plans to upgrade the website to handle 7200 tickets per minute.

In June 2013, Spice Digital had partnered with IRCTC to offer a B2B travel and tourism solution called Spice Safar for travel agents, as a part of Spice’s retail initiatives. Through this partnership, it offered Safar act as its principal agent to carry out IRCTC’s e-ticket booking services in the country.

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Double-decker train from Guntur to Secunderabad soon

Travellers between Guntur and Hyderbad will have much to cheer as Guntur Railway Division is making plans to introduce a high speed double- decker train soon. Additional Divisional Railway Manager Mr.D.V.Chandrasekhara Rao announced this at an interactive session held with eminent personalities from various walks of life held here on Saturday. The other passenger amenities, which would be introduced, include, an escalator and an over bridge on platform no 1 at a cost of Rs.5 crore, additional lift, potable water on all platforms, ticket vending machines on platform 1 and a 24-hour cafeteria on platform no 1.

The railways is also keen on setting up branded stalls to improve the quality of food, he said.The meeting saw several people from business, services industry making suggestions to railways to improve the efficiency of the service and passenger amenities.The ADRM said the meeting was convened to know the feedback from the travelling public and improve the services.

The Guntur Railway Division established in 2003 has made a remarkable progress during the last 10 years, he said.

The commercial staff have been given training in good behaviour and maintaining cordial relations with passengers.

Guntur Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Atukuru Anjaneyulu urged the travelling ticket inspectors to show courtesy to passengers.

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Now Original ID Proof mandatory for Tatkal Tickets

MUMBAI: Western Railway has decided to crack down on return tickets under the tatkal scheme. It has instructed chief booking supervisors at each Passenger Reservation System (PRS) centre to seek an original copy of the photo identity card of the passenger who plans to travel to Mumbai, even if he/she is not present in person at the counter.

Under existing rules, a self-attested photocopy of any ID proof of one of the passengers has to be attached with the requisition slip. The details are recorded in the system and indicated on the ticket and reservation cards. Now WR has made it mandatory in Mumbai for even a person who is not traveling, but booking the ticket on somebody’s behalf, to bring the passenger’s original ID. The move targets people who mail scanned copies of their IDs to touts in Mumbai from other states. A WR official said, “We hope this will keep a check on touts to some extent.” WR already has self-tatkal ticket counters to help genuine passengers book tickets under the quota.

A CR official said, “We have proposed to the Railway Board not to allow tatkal bookings for return journey from destinations beyond a certain distance. This will automatically bar touts booking tatkal tickets from Mumbai for travel from cities like Lucknow or New Delhi.”

However, WR official said, “Unless, there is coordinated efforts from all zone or the board comes out with uniform policy, touting will continue to flourish.”

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Now enquire about lost items in Metro on a mobile number

NEW DELHI: Forgot or lost your valuables on metro train? You can call up on a dedicated mobile number launched by DMRC today and hope to get them back.

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has launched dedicated mobile number 8527405555 for its passengers to enquire about the items/belongings lost by passengers while traveling in the Delhi Metro, a DMRC official said.

The enquiries on this number can be made from 10:00 AM to 05:00 PM daily except on Sundays.

Besides this number, the Lost and Found Office at Kashmere Gate Metro station already has a landline number 011-23860837 on which passengers have already been enquiring about their lost items.

DMRC displays the list of all lost and found articles on its website www.delhimetrorail.com on a daily basis under ‘Lost & Found’ section of the website.

The bonafide claimant(s) of such items can approach the respective Metro stations as shown in the list within 24 hours of its display on the website to claim the item.

However, if the passengers who are not able to reclaim their item within 24 hours from the station may then approach the centralized ‘Lost & Found’ office at Kashmere Gate Metro station.

“As per practice, DMRC sends all items found in Metro stations to Kashmere Gate office after 24 hours” the official said.

The items are kept in the office till reclaimed.

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Hyderabad Metro to offer 50,000 jobs

Hyderabad: The mad rush to secure jobs in the Hyderabad Metro Rail has started much before the project is likely to commence operations. The 72-km project is scheduled to be fully operational only by July 2017.

Jobseekers, especially from engineering and polytechnic colleges and Industrial Training Institutions are making the rounds of the Metro Rail Bhavan in Saifabad to submit their job applications.

In a typical scenario, some candidates are trying to send applications directly to the office of the minister for municipal administration M. Maheedhar Reddy through public representatives such as MLAs and MLCs.

Scenting a heaven-sent opportunity, brokers are promising jobs for the right sum of money. Placement agencies have sprung up charging candidates ‘processing fees’. Candidates are being guaranteed the much coveted “government job” in Metro Rail for a hefty Rs. 1 lakh, when in fact the jobs can only be private jobs in this public-private partnership project.

The rush for jobs in Metro Rail began after HMR announced in February this year that the project will provide 50,000 jobs to local youth, without specifying any details such as whether the jobs are only during the construction phase or after the metro rail operations begin, what the qualifications required are and who the recruiter will be — the state government or the builder, L&T.
Since all this was left unclear, unscrupulous elements are claiming to be official recruiters. Rumours have been floated that there are “quotas” in jobs such as the Telangana quota, local quota, non-local quota etc.

HMR managing director N.V.S. Reddy has made it plain that no recruiting is being done at present. “We have received complaints that some unscrupulous elements are selling application forms for metro rail jobs and even assuring them ‘job guarantee’ if they pay a certain amount. We urge all not to believe such false claims,” he clarified.

No hirings for Metro yet

Stating that no recruitments have been taken up till now, HMR managing director N.V.S. Reddy said, “The jobs will be offered at the time of commencement of Metro Rail operations. An official notification will be issued and the selection process will be based on merit. We will conduct interviews for the purpose.”

Officials were also shocked to find that application forms costing Rs. 25 each are being sold in paan shops and other small outlets located near Metro Rail Bhavan. HMR officials who initially accepted applications for jobs at the office have now stopped doing so. Applications received so far have been sent to L&T.

A public notice at the office states: “There are no jobs in Metro Rail now. Don’t believe the false claims being made by brokers on jobs.” Officials said that out of the 50,000 jobs that may be filled in future, only 2,500 will be available to engineering graduates.

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Shirdi-Puri special train services

The railways has commenced special train services between Sainagar-Shirdi and Puri from July 12-August 4 with a total of four trips in each direction, to clear the extra rush of passengers.

Accordingly, train number 02746 Puri-Sainagar Shirdi special train, which left on July 12 at 10.25 p.m. from Puri will reach Sainagar Shirdi on July 14 at 8.25 a.m. It will leave Puri on July 19, 26 and August 2 (on Fridays).

Similarly, train number 02745 Sainagar Shirdi-Puri special train will depart on July 14, 21, 28 and August 4 (Sundays) at 1 p.m. and reach Puri at 11 p.m. on second day (Monday). It will pass through Nagpur at 1.55 a.m. (Monday).

Special trains will make halt at Manmad, Bhusawal, Akola, Badnera, Wardha, Nagpur, Gondia, Durg, Mahasamund, Khoriyar Road, Kantabhanji, Titlagarh, Barga Road, Sambhalpur, Dhinknal, Bhuvneshwar, Khurda Road and Puri.

The train will have a composition of one AC2, two AC3, nine SL and six unreserved coaches, a release from Nagpur division of Central Railway said.

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IRCTC joins hands with Airtel for ticket reservations

Bharti Airtel, through its fully owned subsidiary Airtel M Commerce Services Limited (AMSL), made a tie-up with Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation Limited (IRCTC) to offer railway bookings through airtel money. 

With this, commuters travelling by rail every day will now be able to register through their register option *400# on Airtel mobile phones and book tickets through their mobile phones via airtel money. 

Vikas Singh, CEO, Bharti Airtel – Kerala and Tamil Nadu, said that train travel is one of the most common way for a lot of our customers. Our integration with IRCTC for reserved ticketing is a step to empower our customers specifically beyond the urban footprint with the convenience of booking tickets without the need of holding a bank account or an internet connection. 

IRCTC mobile bookings through airtel money is a simple, convenient, quicker and secure alternative to the conventional methods of booking via standing in reservation counter queues or booking it online. The service works across all mobile devices, does not involve any data or SMS charges and uses a simple USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) technology that prompts users with interactive and guided menu options towards booking tickets. Through this service, customers can not only making ticket bookings but also search for stations, trains, availability, PNR enquiry and cancellation. 

To use the service the customer should be a registered IRCTC user and IRCTC profile should be updated with your airtel money number. IRCTC user ID can be created by visiting www.irctc.co.in 

As per railway reservation rules, booking services are not available between 8 am – 12 noon and 11.30 pm – 12.30 am.

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Now Book Railway Reservation through Simple SMS! – an IRCTC/CRIS initiative

A user’s guide, comparisons and limitations of the railway’s latest SMS based ticketing service targeting the mobile phone population

Indian Railways now provides enough options for you to avoid the queue at the booking counter. The latest is the SMS ticketing service which targets the 80 percent mobile phone population in India.

Railways has launched the service to book tickets through SMS on July 1. You do not need to download any app and do not even need a phone with internet connection. This is a smart move because only less than 5 percent of India owns a smart phone among the 80 percent who own mobile phones in India.

As with any new service, there are many questions and apprehensions regarding the service; there are a few pointers hence on how to book tickets using the SMS ticketing method.

There are two numbers through which people could book tickets through SMS: 139 and 5676714

Booking through 139

This is a simple process and involves two steps, sending the travel information (date of journey, number of passengers, train number) and getting a transaction id and paying for the ticket. Before getting on to booking your ticket with 139 on SMS, you need the following essentials:

1. An IRCTC account for which you have to register at www.irctc.in
2. A mobile number registered both with your bank and IRCTC. A registered mobile number is the one in the records with your bank and can also be used for your banking needs. This same number should be in the records of IRCTC else the SMS ticketing will return an error.
3. A four-digit Mobile Money Identifier (MMID) code needed for the payment process. To register your bank account for MMID, choose your bank from a list <hyperlink ‘list’ to http://www.npci.org.in/bankmember.aspx> of 26 banks which offer this service.

You can click on the bank in the list which will direct you to bank site which explains the procedure for availing an MMID. For most banks, all one has to do is send one’s MMID followed by the last four digits of your account number from a registered account number to this number. The MMID is sent almost instantly.

Once armed with an IRCTC account, MMID and a registered mobile number, you are ready to book your ticket.

To start, SMS, BOOK <TravelDate(DDMM)> (upto 6 passengers) to 139 to book your ticket.

You will receive a message in the following format:

Transaction id, Ticket Amount, Service Charges, Total Amount Seat status. For Payment: SMS PAY IMPS IRCTCUserID to 139

Decoding the above message:

The customer will get a message with a unique transaction id of seven digits, the amount of the ticket, added service charge, total amount and the status of availability of seats. For payment, the format for SMS code to be sent to 139 will be as follows:

PAY IMPS IRCTCUserID

This where you need to get an OTP. OTP is one-time password provided by the banks for safe banking. Different banks have different procedures for OTP. For example, with ICICI Bank it can be requested by sending ‘OTP’ from a registered mobile number to a specific number provided by ICICI Bank. You can also request it on your registered email id.

Where TID is Transaction id.

IMPS is used when you want to use the mobile payment gateway to pay for the ticket.

OTP or one-time password

IRCTC User Id is your IRCTC user name.

Once your details are verified, your ticket will be booked and you will get a congratulatory message about your ticket booking.

Tickets can be cancelled by sending CAN followed by PNR number and IRCTC user ID to 139. This is for full cancellation. For partial cancellation, the customer needs to send CAN followed by PNR number, IRCTC user ID and passenger name and number.

Booking through 5676714

This method is a little different method of booking tickets. For this method too, the customer would need a mobile number registered with IRCTC and his/her bank account. Apart from IMPS, this also provides the facility to pay by ‘mWallet’ which is a mobile payment platform where payments can be made from an existing account known as ‘Zipcash’.

To register on ‘Zipcash’, all a customer needs to do is send ZIP to 56767 after which a login name and PIN number will be sent to the mobile phone number. You can recharge your Zipcash account online at https://www.zipcash.in/User/commands.html and pay through that when you book your ticket.

To start with the process, SMS START IRCTC user id to 5676714. This message again should be sent from a registered mobile number.

As a reply, the customer will receive the format for sending the SMS along with instructions for booking the ticket. One can get further clarifications by sending HELP to 56767.

The format is as follows:

BOOK Date of journey in DD/MM/YY format, Train number, class, passenger name, age, gender. This is valid for only four passengers.

If all the fields are entered correctly, the customer will receive the following reply:

As mentioned above, payment can be made through IMPS, which is the same as the payment method when ticket is booked through 139 or through MPAY. MPAY is the mobile wallet application through which payments can be made using Zipcash.

For payment, the following SMS needs to be sent to 5676714:

For IMPS method: Pay IMPS

For MPAY method: Pay MPAY

Instructions in both cases would be sent as a reply to the customer. In case of IMPS, customer will have to proceed with MMID and OTP received from the bank to complete the transaction, just as when using 139. Money would be deducted in one step in case of MPAY system where the customers use Zipcash to pay for the ticket.

Limitations

While both the methods provide an easy way to book tickets, you cannot book tickets under any quota and not between 8am and 12am. Everything is in English, which is again a limitation as the target population of mobile owners is not all English-speaking. Both the payment options need you to be under the umbrella of banked population which is also not true of all the people this service is targeting. Hopefully, such shortcomings will be taken care of once the system starts running and changes are made accordingly.

Comparison

In booking with both 139 and 5676714, the 139 method looked easier as it was just a two-step process. In booking with 5676714, the payment step was further divided into two more steps which looked complicated when compared with 139. Of course, 5676714 gives an option to book using Zipcash which will be an easier method for those who already have Zipcash accounts for making other payments. 139 also allows you to book tickets for six passengers in one go while 5676714 allows for only four.

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