Lok Sabha Question No. 465 (STARRED), answered on 2018-03-28
Subject: Electronic Charting System
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO.465

## TO BE ANSWERED ON 28.03.2018

## ELECTRONIC CHARTING SYSTEM

- *465.   SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether any study has been carried out regarding replacement of passenger tickets,  passenger charts and ticket checking in coaches with electronic display and if so, the details thereof;
- (b) whether electronic passenger charting system has since commenced  operation  country-wide  and  if  so,  the  details  thereof including  the  extent  of  electronic  charting  system  in  operation  in terms  of  percentage  along  with  the  total  expenditure  incurred  on maintenance of L.E.D. displays and electronic charting system, separately, by all the zones during each of the last three years and the current year;
- (c) the total expenditure envisaged in installation of equipment, their annual  maintenance,  alternative  measures  in  case  of  malfunctioning and  extra  expenditure  vis-a-vis  the  existing  system  of  the  usage  of printed paper charts;
- (d) the details regarding capital expenditure that was incurred by the Railways to create a big infrastructure of printing of passenger tickets and charts, import of machinery and construction of new buildings in the railway presses till date along with estimated expenses projected by the zones on complete installation of electronic displays; and
- (e) the details of mechanism  put  in  place  for disposal of the infrastructure  created  for  printing  and  the  amount  that  would  be recovered out of it?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COAL

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

(a) to (e):    A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

******

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF STARRED QUESTION NO.465 BY SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH TO BE ANSWERED IN LOK SABHA ON 28.03.2018 REGARDING ELECTRONIC CHARTING SYSTEM

(a):  With  a  view  to  facilitate  passengers  to  book  ticket  through internet,  ticketing  through  internet  started  in  August,  2002  by introducing  the  concept  of  i-ticket  where  the  ticket  was  booked through internet on the IRCTC website and the physical ticket was delivered  through  courier  at  the  address  given  by  the  passenger. Subsequently in 2005, the concept of e-ticket was also introduced, besides system of i-ticket, wherein the passengers takes a print-out of e-ticket termed as the ERS (Electronic Reservation Slip) which is an authority to travel along-with one of identity proofs stipulated by the Railways. This ERS does not have any money-value unlike a PRS ticket and by itself is not a valid authority to travel in trains unless the passengers' name is appearing on the charts along with any one of  the  prescribed  proofs  of  identity  in  original.    Subsequently, moving  towards  adoption  of  paperless  ticketing,  Short  Messaging Service  (SMS)  sent  by  IRCTC  containing  all  vital  details  has  been permitted as an instrument on par with the ERS. Further, scope of paperless  ticketing  has  been  expanded  by  introduction  of  mobile application  based  booking  through  the  IRCTC  website.  The  scope and  medium  of  service  delivery  has  been  constantly  upgraded taking into account technological changes and user requirements.

In  case  of  unreserved  tickets  also,  with  a  view  to  cut  down queues at Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) counters at Railway stations and to facilitate convenient booking of tickets by passengers, Indian Railways have introduced the facility of booking unreserved  tickets  including  journey,  season  and  platform  tickets through  mobile  phone  with  more  payment  options  in  all  suburban sections  of  Central,  Western,  Eastern,  Southern,  South  Eastern, South  Central  and  Delhi-Palwal  &  Delhi-Ghaziabad  sections  of Northern Railway and South Western Railway.

As regards ticket checked in coaches, a Pilot project for Hand Held  Terminals  for  TTEs  has  been  implemented  successfully.  The trial version is now working in 07 pairs of New Delhi based Shatabdi Express  trains.  It  has  been  decided  to  further  expand  the  project and provide Hand Held Devices to TTEs.

It will help in promoting paperless working, improving efficiency  of  ticket  checking  staff  and  greater  transparency  in ticket checking process. It will also improve passenger services as the status of not turned up passengers  will get updated  in Passenger  Reservation  System  and  the  passengers  at  subsequent stations will be able to book such vacant accommodation.

Physical  paper  reservation  charts  have  been  replaced  by digital display charts at some locations.

(b) & (c): Electronic Passenger Charting System at 88 stations have been provided by Signal & Telecom Department of Indian Railways. Details  of  stations  are  appended.    Total  expenditure  incurred  for installation of Electronic Charting System at 88 stations is ` 10,56,10,497/-.

Light  Emitting  Diodes  (LED)  display  boards  and  Electronic Charting  system  are  provided  under  passenger  amenities  and  are maintained through passenger amenity funds.

(d): ` 60.44  crores  has  been  invested  in  four  Zonal  Railways (Central,  Eastern,  Southern  and  South  Central  Railway)  at ` 15.11 crores  each  for  import  of  new  printing  machines  for  printing  of Railway tickets (Passenger Reservation System (PRS) and Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) tickets). In addition, an expenditure of ` 15.11 crores is expected to be incurred for import of one printing machine for Northern Railway Printing press at Shakurbasti, Delhi. Nearly ` 9.195 crores has been invested in five Zonal Railways put  together  for  creating  infrastructures  in  printing  presses  for printing of Railway tickets (PRS & UTS tickets). No  capital  expenditure  has  been  incurred  by  the  Stores Department  to  create  big  infrastructure  for  printing  of  charts  in Railways. (e):  The  created  infrastructure  will  be  fully  utilized  to  meet  the existing and future demands of tickets and as such the question of disposal of newly created infrastructure does not arise. *******

APPENDIX REFFERED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (b) AND (c) OF STARRED QUESTION NO. 465 BY SHRI SUSHIL KUMAR SINGH TO BE ANSWERED IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  28.03.2018  REGARDING  ELECTRONIC  CHARTING SYSTEM

|   Sr. No. | Name of Station   |   Sr. No. | Name of Station   | Sr. No.   | Name of Station   |
|-----------|-------------------|-----------|-------------------|-----------|-------------------|
|         1 | Asansol           |        37 | Ajmer             | 73        | Ujjain            |
|         2 | Durgapur          |        38 | Bhilwara          | 74        | Bhopal            |
|         3 | Jasidh            |        39 | Secundrabad Jn.   | 75        | Bharatpur         |
|         4 | Darbhanga Jn.     |        40 | Tirupati          | 76        | Damoh             |
|         5 | Dhanbad Jn.       |        41 | Hydrabad          | 77        | Habibganj         |
|         6 | Mughalsarai Jn.   |        42 | Kacheguda         | 78        | Katni             |
|         7 | Jaynagar          |        43 | Nanded            | 79        | Kota              |
|         8 | RauxaulJn         |        44 | Aurangabad        | 80        | Rewa              |
|         9 | Saharsa Jn.       |        45 | Guntakal Jn.      | 81        | Satna             |
|        10 | Samastipur Jn.    |        46 | Guntu Jn.         | 82        | SawaiMadhopur     |
|        11 | Sitamarhi         |        47 | Jalna             | 83        | Bhawani Mandi     |
|        12 | Gaya              |        48 | Nizamabad         | 84        | Gangapur City     |
|        13 | Muzaffarpur       |        49 | Rajahmundry       | 85        | Guna              |
|        14 | Khagaria          |        50 | Begumpet          | 86        | Ram Ganj Mandi    |
|        15 | Bhubaneswar       |        51 | Tatanagar         | 87        | Madgaon           |
|        16 | Puri              |        52 | Bokaro Steel City | 88        | Udupi             |
|        17 | Jammu Tawi        |        53 | Hatia             |           |                   |
|        18 | New Delhi         |        54 | Ranchi            |           |                   |
|        19 | Pathankot Cantt   |        55 | Raipur            |           |                   |
|        20 | Amritsar          |        56 | Bilaspur Jn.      |           |                   |
|        21 | Ludhiana          |        57 | Bellari           |           |                   |
|        22 | Ambala Cantt. Jn. |        58 | Dharwad           |           |                   |
|        23 | Chandigarh        |        59 | Hospete           |           |                   |
|        24 | Jaladhar City     |        60 | Hubbali           |           |                   |
|        25 | Allahabad         |        61 | Belagavi          |           |                   |
|        26 | Kanpur Central    |        62 | Vijayapura        |           |                   |
|        27 | Agra Cantt.       |        63 | Vasco-Da-Gama     |           |                   |
|        28 | Gorakhpur Jn.     |        64 | Ahmedabad         |           |                   |
|        29 | Lucknow Jn.       |        65 | Vadodara          |           |                   |
|        30 | Chhapra Jn.       |        66 | Anand             |           |                   |
|        31 | Kathgodam         |        67 | Ankleshwar        |           |                   |
|        32 | Dibrugarh         |        68 | Bharuch           |           |                   |
|        33 | Katihar Jn        |        69 | Chittorgarh Jn.   |           |                   |
|        34 | AlipurduarJn      |        70 | Indore            |           |                   |
|        35 | New Tinsukia      |        71 | Nadiad            |           |                   |
|        36 | Jaipur            |        72 | Nagda             |           |                   |