BackMumbai: Vaccinated passengers can now book local train tickets on their phones. Here's how
The UTS app for Android is already available. The iOS service will be launched by Tuesday night, said a railway official
PremiumFully vaccinated people intending to take local trains in Mumbai will now be able to get suburban railway tickets and passes via the Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) mobile app, said central railway's general manager on Tuesday.
“Railways has linked UTS mobile app with the universal pass of Maharashtra government, which will allow fully vaccinated local commuters to book tickets on their phones," Anil Kumar Lahoti was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
An updated Android version of the UTS app was already available on Google Play Store, while the IOS version is likely to be updated in Apple Store by Tuesday night, he said, adding that with this, passengers can buy single journey and season tickets through UTS app.
According to the official, the linking of the two systems will provide significant relief to passengers and reduce queues at railway ticket counters.
The Central Railway, Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) and state government have been working together to link the UTS app with the UPS for a while now.
Passengers were restricted from commuting in local trains in the first week of April after the second wave of coronavirus pandemic struck the country.
However, the Maharashtra government had in August launched an online e-pass facility to enable fully vaccinated people to travel in suburban trains in Mumbai.
Vaccinated passengers were required to avail a universal pass, which could be obtained at the suburban railway stations or on https://epassmsdma.mahait.org/.
From 30 October, the state government allowed citizens to travel on suburban trains by obtaining single journey tickets, but passengers had to produce a universal pass for this.
At present, passengers have to produce their universal passes at ticket counters to buy tickets.
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