Photo: Mathrubhumi
Chennai: Southern Railway has taken measures to popularise ticketing through QR codes on UTS app, official mobile application for purchasing unreserved tickets, to use it from stations. At present, the app will only work if the passenger is within a certain distance from the railway stations.
The QR codes will soon be made available in all railway stations. Unreserved tickets can be booked using the app by scanning them.
The decision to popularise QR codes comes in the backdrop of the railway cutting down the number of ticket counters due to staff shortage. The facility is already in use in Chennai and Mumbai suburban railway stations.
In the long run, this will affect illiterates who rely on the service if the Railways decide to stop recruiting new staff to issue tickets in the stations.
Southern Railway has sent a letter to the Chief Commercial Manager Division to paste QR codes in all railway stations by September 25. The details on how to use QR codes will also be made available.
The ticket cannot be shared with anyone else. During checking, the user should show the ticket in the app (screenshots won't work).
Even though the railway introduced the UTS app years ago, it was largely unpopular in states, including Kerala. The issues with GPS accuracy of phones and technical glitches made it difficult for even digital literates to use the app.