With the Indian Railways evolving so much, now it is coming out with yet another benefit for the passengers. The Railways is planning a facility, which will send out SMS alerts to the passengers on delay in train arrivals. This will lessen the hassle at the stations and for the passengers too. Apart from this, they are also planning to set up around 4,615 water vending machines at many railway stations. This amenity is one of the best things that railway stations will have.
The Minister of State for Railways, Manoj Sinha stated that SMS service on train delays is under consideration at the moment. He also added that the capacity of e-ticket system is expanded and currently as many as 7200 tickets can be booked per minute. Not just this, but he said there will be an increase in this system too. The railway has taken a lot of measures to make booking and reservations of tickets easier and user-friendly, he said. The minister said that water vending machines are being set up by the Indian Railways Catering and tourism Corporation to provide people low cost and clean drinking water. He added that at the moment shortlisting of agencies for water vending machines has been completed and about 4615 vending machines are to be installed in a phased manner at crowded stations.
With 5800 unreserved ticketing system counters across several locations and around 1500 automatic ticket vending machines at the stations, passengers are getting several perks through the Indian Railways. The estimated rate per vending machine for the water is between Rs. 5 to Rs. 7 lakhs. Not just this, but people will have to pay around Rs. 2 to 3 per machine.
The minister also stated regarding the ticketing systems that some instances of booking of tickets by individual for commercial benefits have been reported but a lot of checks have come in the picture to solve this problem.
Train travellers can opt for online services to check online to track train status and availability of seats. If you are in a hush-hush situation, then avoid that by visiting www.travelkhana.com. Apart from providing great food in trains, they also have services in which you can search trains if you are changing in between stations. Find out if the desired train has seats empty and then you can book it from the IRCTC website. At TravelKhana, you can put in the train details from your mobile phone or laptop and find out the departure and arrival time within few seconds. This facility is helpful for those, who are unaware of the appropriate timings of all the trains they will take.
With so many simple and easy amenities, the train travellers are in luck. Thanks to the Indian Railways and websites like TravelKhana to come to passengers rescue when they need it the most. So, if you are planning a train trip soon, make sure you check your train timings until SMS alert systems begin. Also, check for water vending machines at your respective station.