Super App for Indian Railways ticketing, train tracking to be launched soon

Indian Railways is working on launching a super app that will provide services that are currently given over a dozen mobile apps, including ticketing and train tracking, the Economic Times (ET) reported on Tuesday. This is being done to reduce the number of downloads needed to get the complete bouquet of railway services in the country.

The app development may run over three years and is likely to cost the exchequer Rs 90 crore, the report added. It will be developed by CRIS, the railway ministry's arm that handles IT systems.

Currently, IRCTC Rail Connect is the most popular app among all Indian Railways apps and has over 100 million downloads. Other apps include Rail Madad, UTS, Satark, TMS-Nirikshan, IRCTC Air and PortRead, among others. All these will be brought under an umbrella app.

Earlier last month, reports suggested that Indian Railways has deployed 20,000 FogPASS devices to avoid disruptions and delays amid dense fog. Introduced in 2018, Fog PASS is a hand-held portable device given to loco-pilots for assistance in navigating dense fog conditions.

The device gives them on-board real-time information (display as well as voice guidance) regarding the location of fixed landmarks such as signals, level crossing gates (manned & unmanned), permanent speed restrictions, neutral sections etc.

The device also shows the speed of the locomotive, distance and time to reach landmarks and is carried by the Loco Pilots, he said."These are being used only in those zones of Indian Railways where the trains pass through fog-affected regions," according to news agency PTI.