In phase I, TCs will be given scanners; phase II will see flap gates coming up at all local stations starting from CSMT
A TC scans tickets using the OCR scanner at CSMT station on Friday
What could not be achieved during normal times may actually happen due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In a far-reaching decision, Mumbai local stations, known to be most crowded and usually free to access, will now get Metro-style access control flap entry/exit gates starting at Mumbai CSMT.
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To aid this, ticket checkers from Friday have been given Optical Character Recognition (OCR) ticket scanners (text readers) at Mumbai CSMT where TCs can scan all kinds of tickets and not just QR codes.
"Mumbai stations have always been crowded and access control has been a problem, leading to a number of issues even otherwise. Over the years, there have been efforts by the RPF to fix entry/exit points and limit them by numbering them. But now with flap gates, it could help in what we have been attempting to do. We can do it during these days as the crowd is less and there is the scope of experimenting this to make it fully functional," a senior official said.
"The OCR ticket readers will help in this. A mobile app called CheckIn Master has been given to ticket checking staff and they can discharge their duties without any fear, as all kinds of tickets can be examined from a safe distance. This is in addition to hand-held thermal guns provided for the screening of passengers and portable public address system with neckbands," an official said.
"Once this settles down, in the next phase which will be implemented soon, flap-based gates are being planned to be installed at entry/exit with automatic QR-code based ticket checking. Interestingly, the app is being done under CSR from Rural Electrification Corporation Ltd. (RECL) with zero cost to the Railways," the official added.
Central Railway chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar also confirmed the development.
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