Railways considering linking UTS app with Co-WIN to reduce crowds at stations

Central Railway and BMC staff check documents of commuters at Sion railway station. File pic

In a bid to prevent crowding at booking counters and make the process of getting local train tickets smoother, the Railways is looking at linking the Mumbai's Universal Pass to the Universal Ticketing System (UTS) app.

"The UTS is a national app and integrating it with Co-WIN to link the Covid-19 vaccine certificate is under process. At present, the app does not have the provision to verify vaccine certificates. However, officials are exploring if the UTS app could be integrated with the state government's Universal Pass database for both the Western Railway and Central Railway zones. This will not only do away with the need of physical verification, but also help in restoring the app for Mumbai region," a senior railway official said.

Officials check vaccine certificates at Churchgate station. File pic

"The current problem is that the vaccine certificate does not have the holder's photograph and needs to be authenticated with other government documents. Once the UTS is integrated with such supporting databases, this will not be a problem anymore. It will also help in reactivating the online ticketing system," he added.

40L commuters on Day 1 of single tickets

With the railways issuing single-journey tickets, the number of passengers on the Mumbai suburban railway section reached the halfway mark of 40 lakh on the first working day of the week itself. Pre-Covid Mumbai suburban figures on an average used to be about 80 lakh. On Monday, while 1,69,719 commuters bought single/return journey tickets on the Central Railway section, the same was 1,06,345 on the Western Railway section. The total number of passengers who travelled on the CR section on Monday was 22.02 lakh and on the WR section was 17.18 lakh, taking the total to 39.02 lakh.

Virar-Dahanu rail services suspended for 10 hours

Suburban train services between Virar and Dahanu Road stations were suspended for nearly 10 hours due to technical problems in the locomotive of a goods train between Virar and Vaitarna on Tuesday. An engine wheel lock led to the suspension of suburban railway services on Tuesday. They remained affected for nearly five hours from 8:30 am to 5:55 pm.

"The way WR handled the situation was unfair for commuters. There was lack of communication and many remained stuck in stranded trains," said Advocate Prathamesh Prabhutendolkar, joint secretary of the Dahanu Vaitarna Pravasi Sevabhavi Sanstha. "Few long-distance special trains were regulated at Vasai Road and Virar stations. Three long-distance trains were given additional halts between Virar and Dahanu Road," a WR spokesperson said.