The revenue for the Southern Railway by way of Chennai suburban network tickets sales through the mobile ticket booking app UTS has touched Rs. 1 crore for this year, officials said.
The increase in the number of users downloading the mobile app and the number of the platform, daily and season tickets booked through it continues to rise steadily. Despite certain technical shortcomings, the recently introduced features and the enhancement of the Global Positioning System are reportedly the reason for the increase in patronage, officials said.
At the time of its launch, commuters could book ticket only on the Egmore–Tambaram section, but now the service has been expanded to cover the entire network.
Drawing heavily from users’ feedback, several technical upgrades were made on the app, which was managed by the Centre for Rail Information Systems (CRIS), and an intense awareness drive about the app was conducted across suburban networks.
As many as 11,685 passenger trips were made in October against the 5,500 made in April this year, with the revenue touching the Rs. 1 crore mark , officials said.
While this was only a small number compared to the total earnings from the suburban network, estimated to be about Rs. 200 crore per year, the potential to increase the revenue through the mobile app is high, officials said.
However, users continue to have problems with the app and want CRIS to fine tune it further. The app is available only for Android users and while booking tickets, the search feature to locate the user does not work if the user happens to be too close to the station.
Removing all restrictions will enable more commuters to book and opt for travel through suburban trains, especially for short distances, considering travel by bus on arterial roads like Anna Salai and Poonamallee High Road is time-consuming as it is choked in the rush hours, users suggested.
The increase in the number of users downloading the mobile app and the number of the platform, daily and season tickets booked through it continues to rise steadily. Despite certain technical shortcomings, the recently introduced features and the enhancement of the Global Positioning System are reportedly the reason for the increase in patronage, officials said.
At the time of its launch, commuters could book ticket only on the Egmore–Tambaram section, but now the service has been expanded to cover the entire network.
Drawing heavily from users’ feedback, several technical upgrades were made on the app, which was managed by the Centre for Rail Information Systems (CRIS), and an intense awareness drive about the app was conducted across suburban networks.
As many as 11,685 passenger trips were made in October against the 5,500 made in April this year, with the revenue touching the Rs. 1 crore mark , officials said.
While this was only a small number compared to the total earnings from the suburban network, estimated to be about Rs. 200 crore per year, the potential to increase the revenue through the mobile app is high, officials said.
However, users continue to have problems with the app and want CRIS to fine tune it further. The app is available only for Android users and while booking tickets, the search feature to locate the user does not work if the user happens to be too close to the station.
Removing all restrictions will enable more commuters to book and opt for travel through suburban trains, especially for short distances, considering travel by bus on arterial roads like Anna Salai and Poonamallee High Road is time-consuming as it is choked in the rush hours, users suggested.