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Online booking of railway tickets (e-tickets) is set to become cheaper by 50 per cent.
The Railway Minister, Ms Mamata Banerjee, on Friday announced that Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) will soon launch a portal for e-ticketing that will allow booking of tickets at a service charge of just Rs 10 for AC and Rs 5 for other classes.
At present, booking an e-ticket through IRCTC involves a service charge of Rs 20 for AC travel and Rs 10 for non-AC travel. IRCTC awaits notification for implementing the new rates.
“A new portal for e-ticketing by CRIS is ready and will be launched shortly. Booking of tickets through this portal would be cheaper with a charge of only Rs 10 for AC classes, and Rs 5 for others,” the Minister said.
An e-ticket or electronic ticket requires passengers to carry a print-out after they book their tickets online using portals such as IRCTC's own site or those of Cleartrip, Makemytrip and many others. IRCTC has already touched a high of 3.5 lakh e-tickets/day this season, as against a last year's average of 2.6 lakh e-tickets/day.
‘Go India' smart card
Presenting the Railway Budget for 2011-12, the Railway Minister also talked about introduction of a pan-India multi-purpose ‘Go India' smart card on pilot basis. This will be a single-window package for the passenger to seamlessly pay for tickets for long distance, suburban and metro travel. The passengers can use this card at booking counters, vending machines, Internet etc.
Other IT initiatives proposed by the Railways include opening of a Centre of Excellence in software at Darjeeling under the aegis of CRIS, its IT arm; issuing paperless railway receipts; e-procurement and e-auction for greater transparency; and development of a Web-based databanks for land and asset management.
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