Railway Minister Piyush Goyal has asked Railway officials to enable a system, wherein any rail passenger can view vacant seats, and then choose the one which he or she desires.
This would be based on the airlines model.
An unnamed Rail official said, “Just like airlines,
Railways is planning to enable passengers to see the status of seats by making the reservation charts public.”
Railways is planning to enable passengers to see the status of seats by making the reservation charts public.”
As per reports coming in, the vacant berths would be colored differently so that the passenger can make an informed decision.
This is a possible process:
- Passenger logs into IRCTC website/app to book a ticket.
- While completing the transaction, a new window will pop-up wherein the passenger can view all vacant seats in a train, based on coaches. Hence, vacant seats in coach B1, coach B2 and so on.
- Depending on the preferences, the passenger can book a berth, and confirm it.
- Note here, that lower berths would be still reserved for senior citizens and women, under this new system.
Another option can be, that once the ticket has been booked, the passenger can use the PNR number to select the best berth, by opening a dedicated portal meant for this facility. This is again, based on airlines’ current system.
Selection Shall Be Free
Unlike airlines, which charge extra for selecting the best seats, this facility to choose berth in trains shall be free as of now.
Based on the age and sex of the passenger, the available seats would be displayed, under different colors. However in order to implement this, Railways will need to display the reservation status of the entire train, which may take up time.
Earlier, Indian Railways had announced that ticket checkers would be enabled with hand-held devices to give real-time information about vacant berths to passengers.
This was much needed.I do hope the same can be implemented soon.Time and again I had written to IRCTC suggesting that such a system should be incorporated.I now see that the ball is.set in motion.Travelling by Indian Railways is romance for me and and.my preference is always the SIDE LOWER berth.Such is my preference that if not available i would change my journey date!Of late,it was very frustrating to note that SIDE LOWER was not being allotted to me in spite of.being available at the time of booking!I had written so many letters on this.I wait with animated suspension for the implementation of this project.
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