Mumbai: Beware, you can’t use coupons for travel on CR, WR anymore

Around 21 years after the facility was made available to commuters of the Central and Western Railway, the coupon validating machines (CVMs) went out of use from Friday.

Around 21 years after the facility was made available to commuters of the Central and Western Railway, the coupon validating machines (CVMs) went out of use from Friday.

The railways had announced the withdrawal of CVMs in March 2015. While the sale of coupon booklets stopped from April 1, commuters were allowed to use coupons up to April 30.

The CVM facility was introduced on the WR suburban section on August 15, 1994. The idea was to shorten the queues at booking counters and make it easier for commuters to buy tickets.

Commuters had to purchase the booklet available at the booking counters and punch coupons of the appropriate ticket value at the machines installed at the stations. The machines would print the station code of validation and the date and time of the use on the coupon.

The coupon booklets were initially available with denominations of Rs 40 and Rs 60, which were later increased to Rs 50 and Rs 100.

The CVMs became an instant hit among commuters, especially in case of occasional travellers.

Around 20,000 coupon booklets were sold a day and were used by approximately 1.70 lakh passengers daily, which amounted to 15% share of the daily traffic.