Title - Vadodara railway station goes hi-tech

VADODARA: Your next visit to the railway station at Vadodara is going to be a pleasant experience. The station is witnessing a major overhaul to extend latest facilities to passengers.

It is the first Western Railways station to introduce a biometric system for passenger reservation that generates a token based on thumb impression of a person wanting to book a ticket. The system will allow an individual to get registered again only after three hours.

"It will discourage touts from booking multiple train tickets or multiple tickets in one train," divisional railway manager ( DRM) Naveen Kumar Shukla told TOI while adding that the system is passenger friendly as they will not have to stand in queues. In future a camera will be installed inside the biometric machine to capture images of repeat comers.

The authorities have already installed 32 CCTV cameras, four touchscreens, apart from new scrolling electronic train charting display. "With the entire railway station connected on our Railnet facility, the station manager can take immediate administrative actions like opening a new window or checking if the booking clerk is missing from the counter," said Shukla. During a recent inspection, general manager of Western Railways Mahesh Kumar inaugurated Jan-Aahar facility, a modern food plaza on platform number. "While we have converted one retiring room into a model retiring room for passengers in transit giving it a typical hotel-room look with all the amenities including LED and modern fittings, the work to refurbish nine others will start soon," said Shukla.

Two lifts and ramps dedicated to senior citizens are also to be installed at the station in addition to two escalators that are being put up.