Unreserved railway ticketing app on high-speed track

With around 2.48 lakh registered users, the app has seen a steady growth in usage and booking mainly in the last six months. From a mere 100 bookings in the inaugural month, the app had peaked last month, registering a record 76,185 passengers in October. Informed SR sources told DT Next that the average bookings per day since January 2015 was 1,700 passengers and it has  increased to 2,460 passengers per day during the last quarter. Also, the average season ticket booking has reached 185 per day through the Android and Window phone based application, officers noted, attributing the spurt in app-based booking to increased penetration of smartphones and greater network connectivity.  

And it looks like the app is set to expand and fetch more revenue in the coming days, as the Chennai Railway Division has planned to extend the GPS-based app up to Kancheepuram, Tiruttani and Sulurpet stations. Currently, the service is available to suburban train commuters only up to Tambaram, Tiruvallur and Gummidipoondi stations from Chennai. Also, SR has planned to redesign the GPS- based application in such a way that ordinary non-smartphone users would also be able to utilise the application. “Usage of the app in ordinary phones and iPhones is being tested,” a senior SR officer said. Significantly, the app could also be made available to other divisions, if officials so wished. “It depends on network and GPS coverage. The stations till which the app is extended should have geo-fencing,” the officer explained.