The Railways is revamping its train enquiry system and plans to give the contract for the service to leading BPO firms.
"Contracts are likely to be awarded to leading BPOs by the end of October and the improved services are expected to be operational by March 2007," a railway ministry source said.
To upgrade its services while retaining a competitive fare structure, the Railways has reduced the e-ticket charge by Rs 20 a ticket in higher classes and Rs 15 a ticket in the sleeper class, sources said.
Work has also begun on a pilot project to install 200 automatic vending machines in the Mumbai suburban area to dispense tickets automatically through smart cards.
"By the end of 2006, Railways will have a Passenger Reservation System (PRS) operational in 1,310 centres and 425 Unreserved Ticket Station (PRS) centres," a source said.
To make unreserved tickets available, the Jansadharan Ticket Booking Scheme and Gramin Ticket Booking Service Agencies were formulated on a pilot basis to make pre-paid UTS counters available to unemployed youth.
Railways has already made it possible to buy tickets on the internet and through Rail Travel Service Agents and IATA/TAAI agents, who book tickets on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation's (IRCTC) website and deliver it to passengers for a nominal charge.
{{/usCountry}}Railways has already made it possible to buy tickets on the internet and through Rail Travel Service Agents and IATA/TAAI agents, who book tickets on the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation's (IRCTC) website and deliver it to passengers for a nominal charge.
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