Hand-held terminals for TTEs in Shatabdi trains

New Delhi

Train Ticket Examiners (TTE) will no longer be required to carry reservation charts on trains as they will be equipped with hand-held terminals to provide reservation status instantly to passengers and also to the next station on a running train.

Currently, the berth position, availability status, ticket checking and charts are maintained manually by the TTE and for this he has to carry sheaves of paper reservation charts, and refer to them each time they check a passenger ticket or allot a berth on the train.

With the use of hand-held devices, an IT initiative, the paper gets eliminated and accommodation availability status on the running train will be made available to all stations including the approaching one as the system goes online with the operational of HHT system, said a senior Railway Ministry official.

Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu will launch the HHT system here as a pilot project for Northern Railway zone.

According to the official, the HHT system will be given to TTEs on Shatabdi trains to begin with and later extended to other trains as well.

TTEs play a critical role in the efficient allotment of accommodation to the millions of passengers who reserve seats in trains.

The system is also environment-friendly as with over one million passengers travelling daily on reserved tickets, the tonnes of paper used for printouts can be saved with this facility.

It will also improve the passenger reservation system by providing confirmation to persons having ticket in waiting list while on the running train and sending instant accommodation availability status to all stations.

The IT initiative will help the Railways to move towards paperless ticketing and charting and expedite finalisation of refund claims apart from saving of paper.

PTI