In a first for the Pune Division, a joint initiative of the Indian Railways and the Postal Department will provide railway tickets from post offices. Under this new facility, passengers will no longer need to go to the ticket counter at the railway station or book tickets online to book tickets. This facility has been started at Uruli Kanchan and Ichalkaranji in the Pune division. Now, in the coming months, this service will be started in some other post offices as well.
During the festive season, it is often difficult to get an 'IRCTC' ticket at the railway counter. Due to frequent technical problems, it is not always possible to book tickets on the website; in such a situation, passengers can now book railway tickets from the post office. Post office services will also be available 24 hours a day and will hopefully benefit the passengers.
Procedure to book tickets from the post office
In the first phase, this service has been started from Ichalkaranji and Uruli Kanchan post offices in the Pune Railway Division. Passengers will have to fill out a form to book tickets from the post office. Also, tickets can be booked by showing the Aadhaar number and identity card. This service is available in select post offices authorised by the railway administration.
Passengers will get tickets only through the Railway Passenger Reservation System (PRS). This will avoid long queues at the railway station, and it will also be a great benefit for passengers in rural areas. Under this service, passengers can give their name, travel date, train number and other details to the post office for booking train tickets. The ticket will be printed within a certain time.
Relief for passengers in rural areas
The CP code of Uruli Kanchan is 877, and 1676 passengers have booked tickets from here. Nine tickets are booked daily from this Uruli-Kanchan. While, the CP code of Ichalkaranji in the Pune Division is 825. Five thousand passengers have booked tickets in the five months from April to September. An average of 28 tickets is booked here every day.
Sometimes it is not possible to book tickets due to technical problems on the website, which has now been addressed through the new scheme and is considered to be a big relief for passengers, particularly from rural areas.
