Rlys to help book taxis, hotel rooms soon

If things work as planned, by the end of this year Railways will introduce a three-digit number, 138, which can be dialled from any mobile number to book taxi service and hotel accommodation anywhere in the country.

“People travelling to different places in the country are interested in knowing whether their respective train is scheduled on time, which platform the train will halt and the position of their coach on the platform. Many passengers who do not have an access to internet want to make quick booking of taxis outside the station and get good hotel accommodation,” said Rakesh Tandon, managing director of Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC).

“We intend to introduce a service which will provide these and many more facilities for the passengers. This is likely to be introduced before the end of this year as it is being tried on experimental basis in New Delhi,” said Tandon.

Recently, the Railways introduced three-digit number 139 on which passengers can send an SMS to know the status of their ticket. “Passengers having wait-listed ticket or an RAC booking can send an SMS on 139 and can know whether their ticket has been confirmed,” said Tandon.

 Not only this, the railways is also working towards the huge amount of garbage generated from the trains daily. “According to a recent survey, we have found that after any two meals - breakfast and lunch or evening snacks and dinner - every coach generates around 15kg garbage every day. We offer catering services on 800 trains in the country.

Even if we consider 14 coaches per train, the amount of garbage multiplies manifold. However, railways have only 600 nominated points across the country for dumping this garbage,” said Tandon, adding, “We plan to introduce a solid waste management programme which will use non-burning technology on the train itself.”