Surat: In line with the Digital India mission, Western Railway has provided Hand Held Terminals (HHT) to all 1,383 ticket checking staff on 298 Mail/Express trains originating from Western Railway. This move eliminates the need for physical paper charts and creates a completely paperless working system, benefiting over 40,000 passengers.
According to a press release from Sumit Thakur, Chief Public Relations Officer of Western Railway, the HHT system ensures allotment of berths to RAC passengers in accordance with the reservation chart. In the last week, 21,453 berths were assigned to RAC passengers. Additionally, 21,222 berths were released to onward stations through HHT within the same period.
The HHT system has also streamlined the refund process. Previously, physical chart verification at the destination station could take up to a month for refunds to be processed. Now, refunds can be processed within 2-3 days of receipt of the claim, without the need for destination verification.
Thakur added that stopping the printing of physical charts has helped save paper and protect the environment. The HHT system maximizes the utilization of vacant berths, as they are automatically transferred to the next station for passengers to use.
Hand Held Terminals provide real-time information about passenger numbers and available berths in any train. The use of HHTs has reduced the workload for granting refunds and shortened the time needed to process them.
