Southern Railway’s app gains traction

“Around 22 lakh people book tickets in Southern Railway daily, of which 20 lakh are unreserved. Of that, 30,000 – 40,000 unreserved tickets are now booked through the app,” a senior SR official told DT Next. The remaining two lakh, which is 20 per cent of the daily patronage, account for long distance reserved tickets booked in the zone daily. 

The UTS app was launched first in Chennai Railway Division in 2015. SR extended the app to the rest of the zone on April 14. Describing the app as “very successful,” the official said not less than 8,000 people download the app daily since its launch in April. The app, which is available on Google Play Store, enables the passenger to buy both paper and paperless tickets. Printed tickets can be booked using the application and the print out can be taken from automatic ticket vending machines and UTS counters at railway stations. 

In the case of paperless tickets, a person with GPS and Internet-enabled mobile phone can book tickets from up to five kilometers away from the station. However, geofencing prevents the person from booking it within 25 meters from the station.