Mumbai: BMC to use QR codes at railway stations for smoother operations

People wearing masks and face shields get out of a train at Churchgate on Wednesday. Pic/Bipin Kokate

While the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and Maharashtra government are finalising details of Quick Response (QR) codes for essential workers travelling by Mumbai suburban local trains, railway officials said that they have also moved a proposal to integrate them with the existing QR code system of ticketing. This will ensure seamless transport and faster entry/exit into stations.

However as authorities work out details of the resumed services, health service workers are upset that the trains are halting at only fast stations and want them to stop where public hospitals are located.

A security personnel takes the temperature of a commuter at Churchgate station. Pic/Bipin Kokate

QR codes on railways were first introduced by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu in March 2016 as per the 2016-17 rail budget commitment. This was done to avoid cases of misuse of unreserved tickets by unscrupulous elements who used to get the tickets printed illegally. This was affecting the railways' revenue. The bar coding feature includes details like ticket number, stock number, fare, source station, destination station, number of adults, number of children, train type, class code and date of journey, that are printed in the form of an encrypted QR code. "Right now, the process is on to update the database of all required essential category employees, which is being done by Mumbai police. Once the database is updated, the government employee ID cards will be in sync with the QR codes. The QR based E-passes will also bear colour coding to enable swifter ticket checking so that there are minimal delays while entering and exiting the station. The passes could be verified on a normal smart phone by guards/TCs at the entry gates," a senior railway official said.

A proposal has been moved with the railway board to integrate the Railway's existing QR code system with this to expedite the process.

'Sync halts with hospitals'
Essential medical workers expressed displeasure with the Railways choosing to halt suburban local trains at just fast stations. "The biggest hospital complexes and government/municipal hospitals in Mumbai are at stations like Sion, Parel, Kandivli, Chunabhatti and the trains do not halt there. The trains are full of Mantralaya and BMC staff going to head offices when priority should be given to halts in sync with public hospitals and their staff, which have been running 24x7," Ranjit Menon, a senior medical professional said.

While Sion has the Lokmanya Tilak Hospital, Parel has multiple hospitals like KEM, Tata Memorial Hospital, Wadia and MGM, while Kandivli has Shatabdi, and Chunabhatti has Somaiya Hospital, etc.

"With such a halt pattern with local trains, one is again forced to take a feeder service from the station to the hospital either by buses or cabs, leading to problems," Jayashree Pagare, a staff nurse at a government hospital said. A railway spokesperson said that the halts have been kept minimal so that there is less crowd and social distancing is maintained.

Bankers demand train travel
The All India Bank Officers' Confederation (AIBOC), the largest organisation of employees of supervisory cadre in banking, on Wednesday shot off a letter to the Railway Ministry seeking travel permissions in local trains, as they have been providing uninterrupted services. "During the lockdown, the state government allowed its offices and other establishments/offices to function with 10-15% staff, while banks have been functioning with almost no relaxation. Bank employees are being forced to commute on their own or have to hire cars incurring substantial expenditure," AIBOC general secretary Soumya Datta said.

2016
QR codes on railways were introduced by former min Suresh Prabhu in March

Mumbai local: Day 3

On the Western Railway about 3,783 single day tickets were sold and 1,355 season tickets were issued with 2,351 extensions, bringing in a revenue of R4,47,234 on Wednesday. On Central Railway, the passenger count through the number of tickets issued was about 20,000 passengers till 4pm, and authorities said it could go upto 35,000 by the end of the day.

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