Rail tickets on mobile in Mumbai soon

More than 33 lakh daily commuters of Western Railways in Mumbai sub-urban trains will soon be able to buy tickets from their mobile phones, writes Manoj Gairola.

More than 33 lakh daily commuters of Western Railways in Mumbai sub-urban trains will soon be able to buy tickets from their mobile phones.

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Western Railways is implementing mobile phone-based ticketing system. This was recently approved by the Railway Board and the project was awarded to Oxigen, a Delhi-based prepaid company which is 36 per cent owned by Microsoft, just a week before the Railway Budget.

“The project will be implemented within 4 months,” said Pramod Saxena, chairman and managing director of Oxigen.

A passenger will have to get a mobile e-wallet created on his mobile by paying cash at railway stations and at more than 5,000 centres of Oxigen throughout Mumbai. If a passenger gets e-wallet of Rs 1,000, then he will be able to buy tickets worth Rs 1,000. A passenger will get full value and there won’t be any hidden charges.

Initially the project is being implemented on a pilot project basis for three months.

“Once the project is successful, we will implement mobile ticketing in throughout Mumbai and in other Railways,” said a senior railway official.