At the train stations in Mangaluru Junction and Central, an Automatic Ticket Vending Machine (ATVM) has been installed to sell unreserved tickets. This service was discontinued during the Covid time, even though assistance were deployed and tickets were distributed.
Many people chose to buy tickets from counters instead than using the ATVM directly because of the difficulties they encountered. But Southern Railway’s Palakkad division has come up with a scheme to make the most of these equipment by sending assistance. During the first phase, Mangaluru Central, Mangaluru Junction, and Kasargod—three places having ATVMs—have been allocated 300 assistants.
Department employees are currently helping travelers purchase tickets, which has increased their burden. Thus, the goal of adding assistance is to lessen this workload.
Unreserved tickets worth Rs 8 lac are distributed daily by Mangaluru Central Station, while tickets worth Rs 2 lac are distributed daily by Mangaluru Junction station. The department wants to switch over to ATVM-based ticket distribution completely. In order to enable this, nine helpers will be stationed at Mangaluru Junction and twenty-one at Mangaluru Central, guaranteeing passengers’ access to services around-the-clock.
The hiring of assistants will be done on a one-year contract; they won’t be working for the railway department. Instead, commissions from ticket sales will be the assistants’ source of income. The deadline for applications is May, and they may be downloaded at http://www.sr.indianrailways.gov.in.
