Soon, Aadhaar will be must for booking train tickets online

Aadhaar number has been made mandatory for senior citizens to avail concessions in train tickets from April 1. A three-month trial run for this is going on.

As per the new business plan 2017-18, unveiled by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu today, besides the Aadhaar-based ticketing system, the Railways will move towards cashless ticketing system by installing 6,000 point-of-sale machines and 1,000 automatic ticket vending machines across the country.

An integrated ticketing app will also be launched by May to promote cashless transaction.

"Aadhaar number will be required for one-time registration at the IRCTC ticketing site. The step is aimed at eliminating touts from registering with fake identities," a senior Railway Ministry official said, adding the Railways is preparing a software for the purpose.

Despite taking several steps, touts corner a bulk of tickets and sell those at much higher prices and this is becoming a serious problem for the Railways.

The new business plan also envisages launching of new tourist trains connecting hill stations and enhancing passenger comfort and providing pleasurable journey experience through improving amenities and catering service.