Railways to give TTEs with hand-held devices to check availability of seats

The Indian Railways will soon give hand-held terminals (HHTs) to its staff for computerised on-board ticket checking and allotment of vacant berths, the Railway Board has said in a circular.

The HHTs were introduced in Patna Rajdhani from Friday and will be rolled out on an all India basis soon, a railway ministry official said, explaining the circular issued on December 11.

"A project to introduce HHTs on Indian Railways for computerised on board ticket checking and allotment of vacant berths has been conceptualised and tested and is ready for roll out on all India basis," the circular said.

The availability of such systems would mean that there will be a real-time reflection of vacant berths to passengers who are boarding train from the stations on the route of the train.

"It will also result in greater availability of vacant berths to wait-listed passengers. Hence more passenger satisfaction. More bookings will also result in increased railway revenue. It will also give a boost to the digital India initiative," the official said.

He also said that a smart gadget will also boost the morale of the ticket-checking staff who will have the details of available seats on their terminals without having to look reservation charts.