Virtual tickets can ease travel

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Indian Railways’ move to begin accepting Virtual Reservation Message (VRM) — screenshots of e-tickets and SMSes — apart from physical tickets and printouts is being welcomed as a move that will increase traveler convenience and save paper.

Commuters who often found it difficult to obtain printouts call it a progressive move from the railways. Those who had, for various reasons, not had the e-ticket printouts were treated as travelers without ticket laud it. Says Mimansa Shekhar, a journalist, “It’s easier to lose/misplace a paper (printout) while there’s lesser chance of losing one’s cellphone. People try to keep the PNR numbers safely in their records. But they should make it compulsory to have an authentic IRCTC SMS and a valid ID card. People who get their tickets done months in advance and find it difficult to keep printouts safe will benefit.”
Seconds Divyank Rana, an IAS aspirant, and says, “As long as one has an ID proof and their name on the ticket checker’s (TC) chart, an SMS should work fine. But they do have to develop a foolproof SMS system for that, so that it doesn’t give rise to forgery”
Vikas Sharma, Web developer, feels the need for kiosks that can validate e-tickets. “It’s worked for airlines and cinema tickets, where instead of carrying two-page printouts, by simply entering a unique code into a kiosk one can get ticket printouts. Or better still, TCs could be armed with printers like the ones flight marshals carry and upon providing correct PNR, issue ticket receipts. Barcode readers on Android will also revolutionise ticketing procedure,” he sums up.