Pan-India card to make travel smarter

New portal for e-ticketing will be launched shortly.

The Indian Railways will soon introduce a new e-ticketing portal as well as a pan-India multi-purpose smart card that will act as a single window for long distance, sub-urban and metro journeys.

Announcing these as a part of the Railway Budget on Friday, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee said a pan-India, multi-purpose “Go-India” smart card will be introduced soon on a pilot basis.

“It will be a single window package for passengers to seamlessly pay for tickets for long distance, sub-urban and metro journeys,” Mamata added. The card can be used in booking counters, vending machines and internet.

Besides, a new portal for e-ticketing by Centre for Railway Information System is ready and will be launched shortly. Booking of tickets through this portal will be cheaper — a minimal charge of Rs 10 for AC classes and Rs 5 for others.

Besides, an All-India security helpline will become operational this year. A single number throughout the country will help facilitate passenger security. Banerjee also announced setting up of a software excellence centre in Darjeeling.

To make the railways more secure, the Minister said improved version of anti-collision device will be commissioned on three zonal railways — Southern, South Central and South Western Railways. The Ministry will also extend this device to Eastern, East Coast, East Central and South Eastern Railways.

Banerjee said a GPS-based ‘fog safe’ device has been deployed, adding the railways have handled the foggy weather this year without any untoward incident.

The railways will also introduce e-procurement and e-auction to ensure transparency and economy. They will also issue paperless railway receipts. Using technology, railways will develop a comprehensive web-based data bank for land