RailEnquiry

Commuters will now able to get updates on suburban railway fares, train schedules, mega blocks at their fingertips. The Western railway is developing a smartphone app to provide latest information about its services.

The app, currently undergoing testing, will be available for

downloading from the first week of February. “We were looking for some media like FM channels to pass information to passengers. But, now we can give all public-related information through this app,” said Mahesh Kumar, general manager of WR. The app will also provide passengers with additional information such as waiting lists of important trains and augmentation of additional coaches.

“In the first phase it would be available for Android phones and later on for BlackBerry and iPhones as well,” said a senior official of WR.

WR has also tied up with M-indicator, the city’s most popular mobile app on public transport.  M-indicator has provided a special icon for commuters to access information on WR.

Earlier, WR had unsuccessfully introduced an SMS alert system for passengers. This new app, will however, be successful in communicating information to passengers immediately, say railway officials.

After the success of self-ticket windows for tatkal tickets, WR is planning to extend the same facility for passengers looking to book tickets 3 months in advance.

“Out of 110 passenger reservation system (PRS) counters, this facility would be available on 46 counters. The decision to increase the number of counters will depend on passenger’s feedback,” said Kumar.

He added that four counters out of 46 will serve only women commuters and those are located at Churchgate, Mumbai Central, Andheri and Borivali.