How Internet on India’s Trains Will Improve Passenger’s Experience

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14/09/2020

Internet technology will play a crucial role in the government’s plans to modernise railway infrastructure in the country. In 2019, the Railway Minister Piyush Goyal announced plans for an ambitious project to overhaul the country’s crucial railway system.

When making the announcement, the minister also indicated the government would provide free Wi-Fi service inside trains running in the country. In a country which ranks second in the number of internet users, offering free internet to thousands of commuters will have a big impact.

Here’s how this ambitious project will change the lives of thousands of people who rely on railway transport and many others.

Boost to the Railway Services

The railway services in India receive a lot of flak due to low-quality services. The ageing trains, poor management and other problems have affected this service despite the crucial role it plays in the daily life of thousands of Indians.

Recent surveys show that the transport service provider has continued losing passengers on short haul to bus services and long haul to air services. Their medium-haul intercity passenger traffic has continued dwindling.

The introduction of free internet is an important shot in the arm for the railway services. India’s young population is highly connected and they would love the opportunity to enjoy free Wi-Fi during their daily commute or whenever they use the trains. Without a doubt, this will see an increase in the number of passengers.

Online Services Boost

With thousands of people using trains every day, providing free internet would have a ripple effect on the digital economy. Many people in the country now go online for virtually everything. From shopping, learning, gaming, to betting, there’s a website available.

Casino game lovers can use Wi-Fi to check legal and reputable gambling sites from indiagamblers.com. This is one of the fast-growing online industries and it can get a boost as many commuters look for fun online activities when travelling.

The eCommerce industry will also receive a much-needed boost with more people going online. This is an opportunity for the thriving Indian eCommerce industry to use targeted marketing to reach train users. With most businesses now offering online solutions, there’s no better strategy to expand their market reach than targeting train commuters.

Increased Social Awareness

The advent of social media networks has changed how people communicate. People now need instant feedback and social media platforms offer this kind of communication. With the availability of free Wi-Fi on trains, social media platforms will see a boost in the number of users and engagement levels.

India already boasts the second largest social media population. The easy access to the internet will see more sharing of content across all platforms. Today, any information from the government or companies gets to the intended audience faster than ever.

By increasing the number of people accessing free internet, the country will see a rise in social awareness. The government and other organisations can leverage this to deliver critical communication to the population.

Growth of Mobile Internet

Millions of people in the country now go online using smartphones and tablets. It’s easier and more convenient. With free internet services at all 6,500 railway stations across the country, mobile internet will grow and this is a good outcome. From mobile eCommerce, mobile gaming to other mobile digital services, there will be a notable boost in mobile internet use.

Revolutionising Railway Transport

For most people, railway transport is crucial despite many failings. With new developments across the country and the government’s commitment to improve systems, there’s a lot of excitement. The move to connect trains and stations with Wi-Fi is a revolutionary one and it’s bound to have a positive impact on many other aspects of life in the country.

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How to Make the Most out of Your Metro Journey

By

Narendra Shah

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14/09/2020

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Manage a Blog While Out and About

Blogging has become a very popular trend throughout India. These clever online platforms are excellent ways to communicate with others as well as to express your opinions to the general public. Whether blogging about the latest cricket fixtures or commenting on the top holiday destinations, you will always be able to encounter a niche market.

In fact, some bloggers can even earn a substantial side income if they employ techniques such as affiliate advertising and pay-per-click marketing campaigns. The good news is that commuting provides you with the perfect opportunity to come up with a new topic or to edit existing material. There is nothing wrong with brainstorming while on the metro; particularly if this enables you to express your more creative side.

Take Advantage of Online Gaming Platforms

This next suggestion is common sense and yet, there are many more options at your disposal when compared to the past. This largely arises from the growing number of smartphone applications which can be enjoyed while offline. Tens of thousands of apps are created every month, so it is a good idea to keep up to date with what is in store. Here are some popular categories to consider:

Instant messaging
Social media
Dating and relationships
Games

Games are always wise options, as they will help you to pass time. From platforms such as Comeon live casino which explain the basics to different games and hidden object puzzles, you will always be able to find what you are looking for. It is also thought that playing digital games while commuting is mentally healthy. After a long day at work, these platforms will provide a type of distraction that can help to calm your mind; ideal if you feel stressed throughout the day.

As India is now more connected than ever before thanks to the growing presence of mass transit, millions of individuals are using local and regional metro services on a daily basis. If you are frustrated by a long journey or should you simply feel bored during transit, the suggestions mentioned above are worthwhile to take into account. The digital world will continue to advance at a breakneck pace and knowing your options represents the first step towards finding a healthy form of entertainment while travelling.

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DMRC invites bids for works of Patna Metro Rail project

By

M K Rai

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14/09/2020

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NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation Limited (DMRC) on 31st August 2020 opened the financial bids of the civil contract package PC-01 which was floated for the construction of 6.107 km stretch between Malahi Pakri – New ISBT section of the corridor 2 of Patna Metro Rail project. NCC Limited has emerged as the lowest bidder (L1) among the other four contenders for this contract.

As per the data revealed by DMRC, the financial position of all participants/bidders are as under:

NCC Limited: Rs 552.93 crore (L1).
Sam (India) Builtwell Pvt. Ltd.: Rs 561.96 crore (L2)
SP Singla Constructions Pvt. Ltd.: Rs 589.84 (L3)
GR Infraprojects Ltd.: Rs 667.09 crore (L4)

The fifth contender Dineshchandra R. Agrawal Infracon Limited was found disqualified, hence their financial bid was not opened by the tender committee.

The scope of work under the contract package PC-01 includes part design and construction of the Elevated Viaduct, Viaduct connection to Depot including an elevated ramp for Depot, Stabling & Extension of Viaduct for Corridor-1 at Khemni Chak Station, Special Spans, Elevated Ramp at Malai Pakri and Five Elevated Stations viz. Malai Pakri, Khemni Chak (Interchange station), Bhoothnath, Zero Mile & New ISBT (Excluding Architectural Finishing works of stations & PEB works of stations) from Chainage 8020.000 mt. to 14127.726 mt. of Patna Railway station to New ISBT of Corridor 2 of Phase-I of Patna Metro Rail project.

After technical and financial evaluation of bids submitted by NCC Limited, DMRC will issue the final award of contract/letter of acceptance to the firm to commence the civil construction activities for the Patna Metro Rail project. However, the NCC Limited has quoted Rs 38 crore higher amount than the estimate of DMRC i.e. 514.924 crores. The tender notice was published on 28th February 2020 and technical bids were opened in June 2020. The firm has to complete the construction of the stretch in 30 months.

The 14.05 km long Corridor 2 of Patna Metro Rail project will connect Patna Junction Railway Station to New ISBT through 14 stations in the capital city of Bihar, India.

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Kolkata Metro link goes live, mock e-passes issued

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M K Rai

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13/09/2020

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KOLKATA (Metro Rail News): Around 400 people downloaded the mock boarding e-passes within the first 30 minutes of the launch of the link — ‘https//pathadisha.com/metro’ — on Friday, around 50 hours before its scheduled Sunday 7.59 pm official launch.

Last Wednesday, a team led by Metro additional general manager Sharad Srivastava had attended a meeting convened by home secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay at Nabanna to discuss ways to resume services of India’s oldest rapid transit system. They came up with this ingenious way to regulate crowd in COVID times: making commuters self-generate the QR-coded e-pass on their phones or take printouts and furnish them to enter a station.

The state government appointed Sanjoy Chatterjee, director of Ideation Technology, a technology partner with the transport department, to develop the Pathadisha Metro e-pass. The excitement was palpable among people who chanced upon the link while surfing the Net on Friday. “I managed to download it once, but couldn’t save my e-pass,” Supratik Chatterjee, an 18-year-old resident of Sovabazar, said. “I am extremely curious about the link and the e-pass. Initially, I thought it was a complex affair. But after going to the link, I found the steps quite simple. It seems to be a novel way to decongest the Metro and regulate crowd at stations,” said the 32-year-old executive and Kalighat resident Ashish Manna.

When the link becomes functional from Sunday evening, precisely 12 hours before the first train on Monday, one can generate the e-pass, valid for an hour. The link will be available in Pathadisha app, station entry points, Metro Railway’s app, Metro Railway’s website, along with many state government websites. But on Friday, one could access the link just by typing it out. “These were practice sessions. There are no trains on Saturday. So the e-pass generated were of no use,” said a transport department official.

Even as 74 trains will run on Sunday, only NEET aspirants can ride them between 10 am and 7 pm. They just need to show theirs admit cards to walk into a station. The use of e-passes starts only when Metro resumes for the public at 8 am on Monday. The valid e-passes will be issued only from 8 pm on Sunday, 12 hours before the first train that starts at 8 am on Monday. In all, 110 trains will ply in the north-south section and 72 trains along the East-West corridor. No e-passes will be needed in East-West Metro. Only smartcard users can board trains for now. No tokens will be issued for fear of contagion.

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Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority approves two proposals

By

M K Rai

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13/09/2020

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Three companies in contention for bid for balance civil work in Mumbai Metro line 2B — Photo Copyrighted: MMRDA

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): MMRDA has approved two proposals for establishing direct connectivity between Metro-7 (Dahisar E-Andheri E) stations and two commercial complexes. It is also open to more proposals. The authority has approved proposals to build a 514-metre (m) foot overbridge (FoB) from the upcoming station at Poisar on the Metro-7 corridor to Sarova properties. It has also approved the proposal for construction of a 1,300-m bridge connecting the upcoming Aarey station to Oberoi Mall, officials said.

BG Pawar, joint metropolitan commissioner, MMRDA, said, “The work will commence once we approve the detailed engineering design.” Officials also said that the cost of building the connectors will be borne by the developers.

As both the routes pass along many commercial complexes, MMRDA said that it is expecting a better response from developers after the lockdown.

“Owing to the pandemic, we haven’t received a good response from developers. But we are hoping that they will approach us in the future, as direct connectivity to a Metro station will also increase the property value of a complex,” an official from MMRDA said.

The authority is looking to open Metro-2A (Dahisar-DN Nagar) and Metro-7 (Dahisar E-Andheri E) lines by May 2021.

This year in July, MMRDA had approved a policy to enable direct access between Metro stations and the complexes nearby. Direct access is a worldwide concept that will ease the problem of first and last-mile connectivity to the metro stations. The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC), which is executing the 33.5km fully underground Metro-3 (Colaba-Bandra-Seepz) corridor, has also been in talks with commercial and residential complexes along the route to enable direct access to its underground stations.

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Delhi Metro goes full on with 1.5 lakh weekend travellers

By

M K Rai

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13/09/2020

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Delhi Metro AFC Gates — Image for representation.

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): With all its 10 corridors operational, Delhi Metro’s 288 trains made more than 3,700 trips in nearly 18 hours of service on Saturday. The resumption of services with the old timings, though with certain Covid-19 precautions in place, allowed more than 1.5 lakh people to travel by the urban train network. The high-speed Airport Express Line was the last corridor to reopen, but more importantly, the service timings reverted to the pre-lockdown schedule of 6 am to 11 pm and the frequency of trains was also increased. Before the suspension of services in March, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation operated fewer train between 11 am and 4 pm, considered ‘off-peak’ hours. Because of the strict social distancing norms reducing Delhi Metro’s carrying capacity, the peak hours have been done away with, and trains are available at an optimum frequency between 8 am and 8 pm.
Till 7.30 pm on Saturday, the ridership figure was 1,52,845, a rise of 18.5% against the 1,28,886 recorded in the same period on Friday. The Airport Express Line, which reopened on Saturday, carried 2,268 passengers. Like in the last couple of days, it was the oldest corridors of the Delhi Metro network that logged the most passengers. The busiest, Blue Line (Dwarka-Vaishali/Noida Electronic City), ferried 47,023 people, followed by Yellow Line (Samaypur Badli-HUDA City Centre) with ridership figure of 44,949 and the oldest, the Red Line (Rithala-Shaheed Sthal) at third place with 19,904 riders. The three corridors cumulatively accounted for 73.1% of Saturday’s ridership despite constituting just 42.5% of the Delhi Metro network.
“Now that services have resumed on all the corridors, DMRC will make public only the Line utilisation figures as was done before the lockdown because these figures only reflect the actual utilisation of a metro train system which is spread 400 km with 28 interchange stations providing comprehensive connectivity to the Delhi-NCR people,” said Anuj Dayal, executive director (corporate communications), DMRC.
While Saturday was a weekend and still saw 1.5 lakh passengers, Monday is going to be the real challenge for DMRC as its ability to handle increased footfalls through longer service hours will be put to test. “For your and everyone’s safety and to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, wearing of face masks and adherence to social distancing norms throughout the travel has to be ensured by all commuters,” Dayal reiterated.
As part of its special drive to make people aware about the importance of wearing face masks or cover throughout the journey in the metro including inside the trains, “DMRC on Saturday counselled around 200 passengers for not wearing face masks properly. In addition, 114 passengers were fined Rs 200 each for violation of social distancing norms or for not wearing a mask inside the train,” Dayal said. On Friday, DMRC had counselled 150 passengers for not wearing face masks properly and penalised 92 commuters for not wearing a mask or not maintaining social distancing.

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Indian Railways resumes services of Vande Bharat Express

By

M K Rai

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13/09/2020

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Launch date announced for Vande Bharat Express Delhi to Katra

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): Railways on Saturday started operating an additional 80 (40 pairs) of trains across the country. The list includes India’s first semi-high speed train Vande Bharat Express which started operating between New Delhi and Varanasi after a gap of more than 170 days.

Indian Railways suspended the operations of Vande Bharat Express on 23 March after a nationwide lockdown was imposed to stop the spread of COVID-19 in the country. The second Vande Bharat Express train which operates between New Delhi and Katra, however, remains suspended. As of now, Indian Railways have started the New Delhi-Varanasi Vande Bharat Express which will operate five days in a week except on Monday and Thursday.
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However, on the first day of its operation, the premium train saw a low occupancy rate with just 2% passengers booking tickets on this train. “This is just day one. Many trains are weekly, bi-weekly and so on. Reservation for those trains is expected to pick up as we get closer to those days,” said one official. The train will be numbered 02435 which will leave Varanasi at 3 pm for New Delhi and 02436 will leave New Delhi at 6 am for Varanasi.

With the railways stating that they have introduced special trains in areas where there is more demand and tickets are being waitlisted, only three among the 80 have managed to garner even 50 per cent occupancy on the first day of booking, according to the data.

It is significant to note that when the railways announced that bookings were open for the 15 pairs of trains running on the Rajdhani routes since May 12 and 100 pairs operating since June 1 — the tickets were all booked within a few hours.

Earlier, at a media briefing, the railway board chairman VK Yadav said, “Eighty new special trains or 40 pair of trains will start operating from September 12. Reservations will begin from September 10. These will run in addition to the 230 trains already in operation.” Yadav said.

“Wherever there is a demand for a particular train, wherever the waiting list is long, we will run a clone train ahead of the actual train, so that passengers can travel,” he added.

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All Phase-4 stations will accept ‘One Nation One Card’, says DMRC Chief

By

M K Rai

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13/09/2020

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implement The One Nation One Card scheme across the Nation

NEW DELHI (Metro Rail News): Fare collection system in the upcoming Phase-IV lines of the Delhi Metro will be fully compliant with the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC), and commuters will also be able to use a mobile phone to enter or exit a station on its corridors, DMRC chief Mangu Singh has said. Asserting that Delhi Metro is a “modern metro system” comparable to the best in the world, he also said that these two facilities might be rolled out at the Airport Express Line by the end of this year.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi in March 2019 had launched the indigenously-developed NCMC to enable people to pay multiple kinds of transport charges, including for metro and bus services across the country, through a common card. The proposed ‘One Nation One Card’, the inter-operable transport card would allow the holders to also pay their toll taxes, parking charges, retail shopping and even withdraw money.

He further said that the facility to use mobile phones to enter or exit automatic fare collection (AFC) gates are available in major modern systems in various countries, including in the Seoul Metro. “We are working to continuously improve our system, with better technological and other interventions, to improve our rolling stocks and energy efficiency. In Ph-IV, our AFC system will fully accept the national common mobility cards, which can be used in any cities,” he told PTI.

“Also, a mobile phone will effectively work as a smart card, and riders will be able to use to enter or exit the AFC gates, in Ph-IV lines,” Singh said. The managing director of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, however, underlined that e-payment system and technology are fast-evolving and by the time the Ph-IV work is complete, new technologies may emerge.

“But, we have been working on it for quite some time, and the facilities of NCMC and entry and exit using mobile phones might be available by the end of this year on the Airport Express Line” he added. Currently, riders on the Airport Express Line can also enter or exit AFC gates using a QR code on mobile phone that has to be collected from a metro counter, but the future plan is to have a system whereby commuters can generate their own QR codes on phones and enter through AFC gates using that facility, Mr. Singh said.

The DMRC chief said, these two facilities will be first available on the brand new lines to be built under Ph-IV, and hopefully by the time the construction is over, the corridors to be built under this phase as extensions of existing lines, would “also be upgraded” for compliance. Asked if old smart cards will work in Ph-IV lines, he said, “Yes.” The Union Cabinet, in a meeting chaired by the Prime Minister, in March last year had approved three out of the six corridors of the Delhi Metro’s proposed phase IV.

Under approved segment of Phase-IV, 61.679-km of new metro lines shall be constructed across three different corridors comprising 45 metro stations. These new sections shall provide interconnectivity among the already operational lines of the Delhi Metro. According to the government, the Mukundpur-Maujpur, R K Ashram-Janakpuri West and Aerocity-Tughlakabad corridors were approved by the Cabinet. The other three proposed corridors of Phase-IV which have not yet been approved by the Union Cabinet are Rithala-Bawana-Narela, Inderlok-Indraprastha and Lajpat Nagar-Saket G Block.

After a long wait, work had begun on the construction of Delhi Metro’s Phase-IV project with a groundbreaking ceremony held at Haider Badli Mor here on December 30 last year. And, with that piling work had begun for construction of 10 stations of 28.92-km Janakpuri West-R K Ashram Marg corridor, which is an extension of the Magenta Line and will have a total of 22 stations. Asked about the status of construction of stations under Ph-IV, Singh said, tenders have been floated and finalised for all the major elevated sections.

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Metros to provide a safer Travel during the pandemic

By

M K Rai

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13/09/2020

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The Metros across the nation have resumed their services after the Centre gave a green signal for restarting the metro services in a graded manner. The metros have already been opened up and are expected to be fully operational by September 7. The Metros which possess only one line are fully operational in all cities except Nagpur and Mumbai due to the state government’s decision to go for a further lockdown of one month.

The metros having more than one line have opened their first line. The DMRC has opened up its yellow line on September 7 while the rest lines are expected to provide services by September 12. According to the guidelines issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, the set of things need to be taken care of while the metro starts providing their services again.

These guidelines are:

1. Stations in containment zones will be closed.

2. To ensure physical distancing, suitable markings at stations and inside trains will be
done.

3. Wearing a face mask is mandatory for all passengers and staff. Metro rail corporations
may make arrangements for supply of masks on payment basis to the persons arriving
without masks.

4. Only asymptomatic persons will be allowed to travel after thermal screening at entry into
the stations.

5. Provision of sanitisers would be made an entry into the stations for use by passengers.

6. Sanitisation of all areas having human interface needs to be done at regular intervals.

7. Use of Smart Card and cashless transactions to be encouraged. Tokens and paper slip tickets to be used with proper sanitisation.Adequate dwell time at stations to be provided to enable smooth boarding/deboarding,
ensuring social distancing. Metro rail corporations may also resort to skipping of stations
to ensure proper social distancing.

8. Passengers to be advised to travel with minimum luggage and avoid carrying metallic
items for easy and quick scanning.

The government has already notified that the metros are needed to operate their Heating, Ventilation and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems according to the guidelines issued by Central Public Works Department (CPWD) and Indian Society of Heating, Refrigerating & Air Conditioning Engineers (ISHRAE). These guidelines are for increasing the fresh air intake which the metro corporations are already working on. Many of the Metro Corporations have said that they have planned in such a manner that the metro coaches get maximum fresh air while operating.

The metros are indeed not as safer as your private vehicles today due to Coronavirus spread but when as far as Public transportation is concerned, Metros are safest among all. It would help if you were calm and relaxed when you board a metro next time. You will feel a contactless service at the metro stations once you ride on a metro. However, People are encouraged not to travel for leisure. The need of the time is to travel only for essential works like going to office etc. We can hope for a safer and better journey in metros as compared to the other modes of transportation.

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Way towards Digital Metros

By

M K Rai

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13/09/2020

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Digitalization is not a very old thing for the Indian subcontinent. Instead, the concept is very old, but its Indian version is indeed very new. It came into limelight after the demonetization process announcement by the government of India in November 2016. The Digital India movement gained a rapid pace just after the country faced a total shortage of paper money. The concept behind the use of digital money that is based on the number system is to reduce the use of paper money, which further helps to reduce the cost spent by the government in printing notes.

Printing of notes takes a huge amount of investment, human resource and time as well as the best quality of papers which are imported from other countries. The government aims to reduce this cost and thus, in turn, helps payment interfaces. Before the demonetization process, the online payment services were chargeable. Paying for a job application included a payment interface charges of around Rs 20-30 just for a payment of Rs 500. The digital process was then not as easy as it is today.

When the government took the initiative to change the system with National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) introducing the UPI payment system, the online payment system got transformed in a few years. In the year 2016, only Paytm used to be the sole player in the game. With the coming of UPI, a host of new players have come into the field and government is also helping these players, which further helps in reducing the payment interface service charges to zero. Today, we can see a lot of mobile apps available working on the UPI payment system.

The Metro Corporations had been using a blended model which included recharge of smart cards with both cash as well as through online payment mode as the Coronavirus spread has created a new demand of going for entirely cashless.

One alternative to the existing system could be the ambitious scheme of the central government, “National Common Mobility Card” or (NCMC) launched by prime minister Narendra Modi in March last year during the launch of the first phase of Ahmedabad Metro in Ahmedabad. The scheme commonly known as ‘One Nation One Card‘ Scheme is an umbrella the program under the ministry of housing and urban affairs of Government of India. This scheme proposes to include a common payment option for various services with being an indigenous prepaid card supported by the national payments corporation of India led the Rupay payments system.

The Digitalization in the metro faring systems will not only help the commuters or the metro corporations, but it will also help the government to reduce its expenditures on the printing of banknotes. The revenue generated by payment interface service providers will further help the startups and boost the Make in India concept.

The largest Metro network of the country, Delhi Metro run by Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) has announced that it is not going to entertain any cash transactions on its network with going fully digital in the ticketing system.

The Lucknow Metro the other hand, has come up with a new card called Go Smart card. According to the UPMRC, the nodal agency for operating the Lucknow Metro says, ” The Go Smart Cardsaves both time and money as the users have to no longer stand in queues for buying tickets/tokens, moreover, they get a 10% discount on the fare (of the journey) each time they travel. Besides these benefits, ‘Go Smart card users can also enjoy free Wi-Fi facility at the MetroStations for which they just have to tap their card at the card reader. Tokens can also be purchased through Token Vending Machine (TVM) using ‘Go Smart’ Card, so a user’s relatives and friends can purchase tickets using the same card”.

There are few more things which can be given a digital shape in the Metros. In the metro coaches, AI-based digital displays can be used in place of audio which creates noise pollution in the metro coaches. The digitalization in the collection of fare will ensure health safety and transparency.

The further thing which the metro corporations may do is replacing the physical tokens or tickets with digital tickets. The QR code technology can be used in making it more accessible. The AFC gates shall adapt to such technologies which further helps the ticketing system through QR codes more efficient and easy to use. Metro Corporations can develop integrated Android & iOS apps to make the process smoother. As a person who boards a metro train just for a single trip in a year would never like to buy a smart card, it is the responsibility of the Metro Authorities to ensure that interests of such passengers are not neglected. The QR based online ticketing system will surely be of great benefit when it comes to cater to the demands of passengers in such difficult times of the Pandemic.

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