Incentive scheme for frequent rail passengers

RAILWAY BUDGET

Taking cue from the frequent flyer scheme of airlines, the Railways have proposed an incentive scheme for frequent Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi travellers.

Railway Minister Nitish Kumar said the scheme would be available for three categories of travellers "" first AC, second AC and chair cars. The scheme would reward rail travellers with complementary trips on the basis of journeys undertaken by them on an annual basis.

"The scheme would involve one free trip on the lines of the frequent flyer programme of airlines. We do not think there is any competition from the low cost airlines. The details of the scheme would be worked out by the ministry," Kumar said.

On ticketing initiatives, Kumar announced a pilot project enabling passengers travelling on select Shatabdi Express trains to get reservations through the Internet and occupy their reserved seats on the basis of a computer generated slip.

"We are exploring if the printed slips received as confirmation for Internet ticket booking, which carries ticket numbers can be good enough receipts for people to travel," he said

The Railway minister also announced the facility of train reservations through mobile phones.

He said the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has developed technical ability to enable cell phone operators to integrate their system with the Railways and this facility will be offered to all cell phone operators.

"Cell phone companies are invited to approach us to provide ticketing facilities via cell phones," Kumar said.

In the event of delayed departure of Rajdhani, Shatabdi and Jan Shatabdi trains by more than 30 minutes, passengers can now get information regarding this on their mobile phones through SMS.

Initially, this facility will be made available as a pilot project for such trains departing from Delhi. Passengers would be required to SMS a certain phone number and also supply their cellphone numbers, allowing the Railways to get back with the information.

The Tatkal reservation scheme, available now, only in select trains and primarily in sleeper class for short notice travellers, will also be extended to all the trains in sleeper, chair car, AC 3-tier and 2-tier classes.