Title - Western Railway to invest in new ticket machines to cut queues

Western Railway (WR) is planning to buy 490 extra automatic ticket validating machines (ATVMs) to reduce long queues at suburban stations. Speaking to Rail.co, a WR spokesman said: “WR has already increased the number of ATVMs from 115 to 171 in last two months. With 24 more ATVMs to be installed shortly, the total number will go up to 195. “WR has planned to provide 490 more ATVMs for its suburban commuters. A proposal has been sent for 75 new ATVMs to the Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) while a proposal of 415 new ATVMs has been sent to the Railway Board.” ATVMs cost around $5,000 and coupon validating machines (CVMs) are around $500 ATVMs are a single point of service for various ticketing facilities. Customers can book single journey ticket, return journey ticket, multiple passengers’ ticket and platform tickets. Renewal of season tickets can also be done at ATVMs. WR is also in the process of providing more CVMs. At present, there are 292 CVMs available of WR’s suburban stations and railways are planning to install 306 new CVMs, which are in the process of procurement. These CVMs will have digital display and the printing of tickets will be clearer. WR’s new CVMs will be microprocessor-based digital CVMs instead of conventional mechanized type machines. Around six per cent of daily card ticket holders purchase about 32,000 tickets per day from ATVMs on WR, while about 18 per cent of daily card ticket holders purchase tickets from CVMs. Looking at the popularity of CVM machines, WR is also looking at connecting it to online server.