Railways to revamp passenger reservation centres in city

Railways to revamp passenger reservation centres in city
New Indian Express

BANGALORE: Booking your train tickets in advance is about to get more comfortable, with the Railways planning to refurbish all passenger reservation system (PRS) centres in the city soon.

Seating arrangements will be upgraded, with better quality chairs replacing old ones. In places where the rush is more, the number of chairs will also be increased. Whitewashing and repainting works will also be undertaken.

‘‘Except the new ones such as Electronics City and Yeshwantpur, we will revamp all centres within the city, to make them more pleasing and comfortable for the waiting passengers,’’ Divisional Railway Manager Mahesh Kumar told this website’s newspaper.

The Bangalore railway division also plans to open PRS counters in four more areas soon -Banaswadi, Peenya, KR Puram and Wilson Garden. It has submitted the proposal to the Railway Board for approval.

Railways will also undertake a pilot project within two weeks to implement a system to make PRS centres more reliable.

At present, all centres are connected to the main computer in the City station via BSNL lines. ‘‘Whenever BSNL lines in that area are down, our terminals cannot function and we have to close the counters. So we want to develop another link to the main terminal, as a back up,’’ Kumar said.

When the phone lines go down, the system will automatically switch to the stand-by mode. Through high frequency radio communication, the information is passed from the main terminal to the one at the PRS centre.

City-based firm Vijay Comnet has undertaken the project on a trial basis at the MG Road centre, where it will be implemented in the next two weeks. If successful, it will be extended to other centres.