Railway authorities to create awareness on ATVMs
Automatic ticket vending machines installed in most of the stations are operated by railway facilitators and not used by passengers. (Photo: DC)
Chennai: With 54 new automatic ticket vending machines (ATVMs) having been introduced in railway stations, authorities are trying to educate use of the facility among commuters in a big way.
“The problem is these machines, each costing Rs 2.2 lakh, are either left abandoned or are in a bad shape in majority of stations. The public need to use it, else they need to be educated on using a smart card that costs Rs 100,” said T. Prakash, an electrical engineer in Southern railway.
An internal survey by railway authorities in July at all suburban stations revealed that the number of passengers who bought smart cards had dipped heavily compared to 2010 when it was installed.
Senior officials did not reveal statistics of the survey. However, they conceded the objective of installing ATVM had not been fulfilled. Hence, the campaign which is to start in the next few weeks.
“We have decided to distribute 5,000 pamphlets in all suburban and MRTS stations to passengers and also decided to make them understand regarding the usage of these vending machines,” said a senior commercial manager in Chennai division.
Chennai Beach-Tambaram route has traffic of over five lakh passengers daily. Thirty-two machines had been installed here, of which just 14 are working. The Pune-based manufacturer who bagged the new contract in July said the machines are made in a user-friendly manner where one just needs to keep the smart card on the slot and select the destination.
( Source : deccan chronicle )
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