South Western Railway to set up ticket vending machines

Automatic ticket vending machines (ATVM), station navigation kiosks and medical camps were among a slew of initiatives taken by South Western Railway (SWR) as part of the customer facilitation fortnight, an official said on Tuesday.

"SWR is planning to install ATVMs in three months time at a cost of Rs.3.5 crore. 58 of these machines will be installed in Bengaluru," said General Manager P.K. Saxena.

An exclusive dormitory to serve female passengers has been set up at Bengaluru City Station where the guarded area will offer a bed, table, chair and locker for women passengers in transit, he said.

In a measure to further enhance security, the railway ministry has agreed to depute 300 more Railway Police Force (RPF) personnel in the zone, he said.

Railway zone officials visited various stations and interacted with nearly 1,000 passengers as part of the Customer Facilitation Fortnight which began May 26.

"The main complaint received from passengers is about toilets and lack of water in toilets. Inspectors will check this problem," said Saxena.

He also said that the ministry has to clarify about the prospect of launching suburban train services in Bengaluru. "I cannot talk about multi-million dollar projects, the information has to come from the railway ministry," added Saxena.

He also said that the is no plan to launch a linkage to the international airport at Devanahalli like the Airport Metro in Delhi.

On the status of the high speed train from Chennai to Mysuru, Saxena said: "The Chinese delegation is yet to submit the report. The proposed high speed line involves a lot of land acquisition, so many buildings have to be broken and at a very high cost."