WR completes link for seamless travel

Nearly one-and-a-half years after the Central Railway and Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport launched a common smart card for travel within the city, Western Railway has joined in, allowing truly seamless travel on the city’s buses as well as its trains.

Nearly one-and-a-half years after the Central Railway and Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport launched a common smart card for travel within the city, Western Railway has joined in, allowing truly seamless travel on the city’s buses as well as its trains.

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WR, on Tuesday, launched the multi-utility common transport Go Mumbai card, which will allow commuters — if the card is implemented well — to escape the serpentine queues typical of ticket counters at suburban railway stations across the city.

“As of now, commuters need to spend hours in queues to buy tickets, especially during weekends. This problem will be eliminated after the card brings in the convenience of ticket-free travelling,” said WR general manager, RN Verma.

The way the card works is, the commuter swipes it through a dedicated machine installed at the station. Before leaving the destination station, the commuter swipes it again to confirm that the journey has ended. “If the commuter forgets to swipe the card at his destination station within four hours from the start of his journey, his account will be charged the fare for the entire Churchgate-Virar stretch,” added Verma.

Commuters will have to pay a one-time fee of Rs 35, which includes Rs 10 for card issuance and activation, and a refundable security deposit of Rs 25, which will be valid for two years. The smart card can be loaded with a minimum of Rs 50 up to a maximum of Rs 5,000. Rs 2 will be levied as loading charge.

Ticket Checkers (TC) will be provided a cellphone-like device, which will allow them to check the validity of the card and other details. Initially, 400 such devices will be given to the TCs.

Go Mumbai card readers will be installed at 12 stations — Churchgate, Mumbai Central, Dadar, Bandra, Santacruz, Vile Parle, Andheri, Malad, Kandivali, Borivli, Bhayander and Virar — apart from BEST depots and nine stations on the Central Railway.