Railways bank on internet ticketing

Indian Railways is hoping to reach breakeven in internet ticketing business by the end of 2005. The railways is doing this business through its marketing arm, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd.

Railways officials is hoping that 10 per cent of the daily ticket sale will be through internet in next 9-10 years.

Currently, it sales around 4500-5000 tickets every day, which is less than one per cent of the daily ticket sale figure of the railways of around 4-5 lakh. To boost the internet ticketing business, IRCTC has tied up with Intrex India, an Essel group company, for using its payment gateway ITZ Cash.

The group general manager of IRCTC, A S Upadhyay informed that the railways will cover the entire investment and the interest for the project by the end of the current year.

"We have invested around Rs 5 crore for this project, when started 2 years back. Now it is gaining momentum. From just 150 ticket booking through internet, we are now selling 4,500-5,000 every day," he said.

The head (marketing & sales) of Intrex, Gurpreet Bakshi said that the turnover from internet ticketing has shoot up after the tie up between IRCTC and Intrex.

"The turnover has crossed Rs one crore for one day after the tie up. Generally, the average turnover is Rs 40-50 lakh," he said. Upadhyay also agreed by saying that the tie up would help the railways to improve the business.

"A large number of our potential customers wanting to buy tickets online, do not have credit cards in smaller cities. This tie up will enable us to expand our customer base," he said.

According to IRCTC, GGM, the railways is charging Rs 40 for each ticket in sleeper class and Rs 60 for upper class.

Incidentally, online purchase facility is now available in 130 cities all over India. But the business is mainly concentrated in Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai.