Mumbai: Indian Railways is going to launch a new facility through which passengers can now change their boarding station within a short period of time before the train departs. According to the sources, this new facility will first be launched as a pilot project on some selected trains in the coming days.
After the new facility is implemented, passengers will be able to update their boarding station up to about half an hour before the train's departure. Currently, such changes are possible only within a limited time frame, which causes inconvenience to many passengers and often results in tickets becoming invalid.
To implement this facility, the Railway Board has directed the CRIS (Centre for Railway Information Systems) under its IT division to revise the reservation software. Under this, changes will be made in the process of ticket booking and chart preparation, so that passengers get the option to make changes until the second chart is prepared.
The Railway Board proposed that even after the first reservation chart is prepared, passengers will get permission to change their boarding station. That is, now the facility to change the boarding point will remain available until the second reservation chart is prepared, making this process even easier for passengers. This change has been proposed because currently, the first reservation chart is prepared quite a while before the train departs. Once the new proposal is implemented, passengers will be able to change their boarding station from about 30 minutes to 5 minutes before the train departs. In premium trains like Vande Bharat, this facility can be available up to about 15 minutes before the train's departure.
According to CNBC, this facility can begin within the next 15 days. Initially, it will be implemented on long-distance trains, as passengers on these trains often have to change their plans due to traffic, platform delays, or other reasons. In such cases, this facility will prove extremely useful if the passenger misses catching the train from the designated station. Railway officials believe that this will increase passenger convenience, leading to better utilization of seats, and reduce the number of no-show passengers. If the pilot project is successful, then this facility can be extended to most trains across the country.
