In order to make it easier for customers to purchase tickets, Southern Railway plans to install 254 additional Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) throughout its network in six divisions, including three machines at Mangaluru Central Railway Station in coastal Karnataka, which is part of the Palakkad division.
The Salem division receives 12 new machines, while Tiruchchirapalli receives 12, Madurai 46, Thiruvananthapuram 50, Palakkad 38, and Chennai division receives 96 additional ATVMs. A total of 99 ATVMs, including 34 in Chennai (Tamil Nadu), 16 in Madurai (Tamil Nadu), 15 in Palakkad (Kerala), 14 in Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala), 13 in Salem (Tamil Nadu), and 7 in Tiruchchirappalli, are operational at various railway stations (Tamil Nadu).
Advanced capabilities
About eight years ago, Indian Railways introduced ATVMs to make it easier for customers to book unreserved tickets and to clear the lines at the ticket counters.
These touch-screen ticketing kiosks include an intuitive user interface, QR-code and UPI-based payment options, and instant thermal paper tickets. Payments may be done via mobile phone payment apps. So, the new function facilitates speedy booking of platform tickets, monthly and quarterly season pass renewals, and unreserved tickets for suburban and non-suburban destinations.
Additional advantages include a fully automatic system for issuing tickets, an intuitive user interface, a 3% incentive for customers who buy tickets using R-wallets, and the ability to recharge an ATVM smart card via the UTS mobile ticketing website.
The technology aids users in avoiding lines for unreserved ticket purchases. On ATVMs, they can interact in three different languages: regional, Hindi and English.
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