Mumbai: Self-ticketing systems for local services get prepped for return

A railway staffer checks an ATVM at CSMT

Ground preparation to get the hundreds of automatic ticket vending machines and other modes ticketing for local train travel, that have been shut for over two years due to the pandemic and related lockdown, began on Wednesday.

Following directives of the Bombay High Court, the Maharashtra government may revise its order and allow access to local trains for everyone. As per the prevailing guidelines of the state, only fully vaccinated commuters are currently allowed to travel by local trains.

As per the latest statistics, Mumbai railway has 829 automatic ticket vending machines (ATVMs) and a few have been opened with facilitators to ensure that tickets are issued only to fully vaccinated commuters.

"On Central Railway Mumbai division, ticket windows are currently operating at the fullest capacity of 336. Of the total 476 ATVMs, around 178 are functional with facilitators and the rest are being geared up now," said Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer, Central Railway.

Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Sumit Thakur said, "On Western Railway, all the 403 ticket counters are operational along with 157 of the 353 ATVMs."

"It will be a major boost and help to dissipate the swelling crowds at booking counters if all the machines get operational. Checking and verifying vaccine certificates at booking counters is a time consuming process leading to longer queues and more crowds. Let us hope that the state government allows all ticketing modes to open unconditionally," Shankar Sen, a regular commuter at Ghatkopar said.

As per data, the number of passengers on the suburban trains were around 65 lakh, with about 35 lakh on Central Railway and 29 lakh on Western Railway. The figures are just about 15 lakh less than pre-COVID statistics.

829
No. of ATVMs on the suburban train network