Handheld terminals replace paper reservation charts

Palakkad Division of Southern Railway begins pilot of HHTs on Mangaluru Central-Chennai Central Superfast Mail

Palakkad Division of Southern Railway on Wednesday began a pilot project of handheld terminals (HHT) for travelling ticket examiners (TTEs) that replace paper reservation charts in their hands, ensure transparency of allotment of vacant berths to waitlisted passengers and other advantages.

Following directions from the Railway Ministry, Southern Railway has instructed its six Divisions to manage 24 long-distance trains with HHTs and identified Train Nos. 12601/602 Chennai Central-Mangaluru Central Superfast Mail for the pilot in Palakkad Division.

Tablets loaded with reservation charts and having SIM cards were provided to TTEs instead of paper charts to check tickets, update vacant berths, etc.

Palakkad Divisional Railway Manager Trilok Kothari told The Hindu that reservation charts once prepared before four hours of the journey would not get updated under the conventional method.

Passengers on RAC (Reservation Against Cancellation) or on the waitlist would not know berth vacancy if any confirmed passenger did not board the train or if unreserved berths were still available once the journey commenced. They had to depend on the TTE for berth allotment.

The TTE carrying conventional paper chart and marking vacant berths, had the discretion to allot vacant berths to any passenger.

However, with HHTs replacing the paper charts, the TTE has to mark vacant berth/s through the gadget thereby updating the chart status real-time on the Centre for Railway Information (CRIS) servers that manage passenger reservation system, Mr. Kothari said.