Jump the queue

 Travelling is an essential need when you have relatives spread across distance and you work in a city or town far away from your home. Some commute daily and few plan travel during weekends. Train definitely is a convenient source of transportation that provides safety, comfort and speed with an affordable price. Of course the long queue and wait listing in trains is indeed a nightmare for those who want to travel at a short notice. Especially getting the unreserved tickets during peak hours and when you do not have a season ticket or when you are headed for an unplanned journey. This is where Indian railways has so thoughtfully provided a facility of Automatic Ticket Vending Machine (ATVM). It’s touch screen based machine that issues ticket without any human intervention and that saves your time from standing in the long queue. To use an ATVM to buy the tickets all you need is a smart card. These cards are available at booking office at a cost of Rs.100 out of which Rs.50 goes towards a refundable deposit and Rs.50 towards a pool against which you can buy tickets using ATVM. And the added benefit is you get 5% extra for every rupee you pay. To illustrate if you have recharged for Rs.100 you could buy tickets worth Rs.105. 

In Trivandrum Division (TVC) two ATVMs are presently provided in each of the stations of Thrisur (TCR), Alwaye (AWY), Ernankulam Junction (ERS), Kottayam (KTYM)  and Trivandrum Central (TVC). The work is on for providing ATVMs in 14 other stations of the division.

A step-by-step procedure is detailed below for your benefit:

·         Place the smart card on the card slot on ATVM

·         A map with names of the stations grouped in to zone is displayed on screen. Select the zone under which your destination falls.

·         Screen displays the stations in the zone. Select your station

·         Select the number to indicate the number of passengers

·         Select the train type- ordinary/mail-express/Super fast

·         Press the button Ticket

·         A virtual ticket is displayed with all details such as fare, originating point and destination.

·         Press “print”

·         The ticket is printed out through a slot from which it can be taken

Here is a video that clearly explains the steps above.

This definitely does appear simple and convenient. Isn’t it? And it is definitely fair to jump the queue here.

For any complaints, please contact: 138.