Bengaluru has most UTS app users in non-suburban zones

The Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) mobile app, as the name suggests, enables railway passengers to buy unreserved tickets on their smartphones. It has received a positive response in the Bengaluru railway division with 51,000 users coming on board.

The app, formally launched on February 8, is meant to spare passengers the trouble of standing in long queues. Payments for the fare can be made through PayTM, Freecharge, Mobikwik and R-Wallet.

Divisional Railway Manager R S Saxena said though Bengaluru’s numbers were positive, these cannot be compared with those of Mumbai, Delhi or Kolkata that have a high number of suburban railway stations and travellers.

“Bengaluru division leads among the three non-suburban zones, South Western Railway (SWR), Southern Railway and East Coast Railway. We have 20,000 regular users, bringing in a revenue of Rs 70,000 every day,” Saxena said.

The app has recorded 67,000 users under the SWR zone.

Officials said most users purchase season tickets and hoped that more regular ticket buyers to use the app. “Considering users do not choose to stand in queues for tickets, we hope the numbers of the app users to go up in the coming days considering the convenience it offers,” the DRM said.

Track renewal

The Bengaluru division of the SWR has 1,100 km of railway track which has to be renewed once in 20 years, based on the rail traffic, to ensure safe travel.

“There was a huge backlog as the rate of renewal per year was low. However, we reached a milestone in 2017-18 by renewing 133 km of tracks, way above the 60 km in 2016-17. We hope to clear the backlog in the next financial year,” DRM R S Saxena said.

Track renewal work is under way in Mysuru-Bengaluru, Bengaluru-Jolarpet, Anekal-Hosur, Baiyappanahalli, Channasandra and Yelahanka sections and will be completed at the earliest, the official added.