E-ticketing: Railways Rawalpindi Division earns over Rs 185 million in fiscal year 2018

Pakistan Railways, Rawalpindi Division earned over Rs 185 million through E-ticketing facility during 2017-18, said Division Commercial Officer (DCO) PRs, Rawalpindi Division, Raza Ali Habib. Talking to APP he informed as many as 138,031 passengers booked their rail tickets through E-Ticketing system in Rawalpindi Division while overall 2,082,324 citizens availed the facility.
The division earned over Rs 185 million while Pakistan Railways generated over Rs 2.705 billion revenue from E-Ticketing during 2017-18. To a question, the DCO informed that nearly two-year back the facility was re-launched in an effort to facilitate the passengers in booking their seats from anywhere in the country.
Initially, the online system was introduced for the railways flagship train 'Green Line Express', besides five rail cars. The E-ticketing facility is now available here for all passenger trains, he said adding, and the online booking system has not only ended black marketing of tickets but also improved PR's accounting system.
The PRs re-launched the E-ticketing system in collaboration with United Bank Limited. The passengers can pay for their tickets online via credit or debit cards, online bank transfers or micro transactions like UBL Omni, Easypaisa or Mobicash, he added.
With the digital ticketing system, the passengers can book and pay for tickets from the comfort of their home by using computers or mobile phones, he said. Moreover, the digital system has increased the seat capitalization for the railways and decrease chances of corruption.
Everything is being handled electronically so tickets can be booked quickly and efficiently with no human interaction, he replied to a question. He further informed that PRs Rawalpindi Division has earned over Rs 10 million from eight special summer vacation trains.
The special summer vacation train was launched on June 18 for Rawalpindi to Karachi to facilitate the passengers particularly families. Every trip of special summer train carried as many as 700 passengers with an earning amounting to Rs 1.3 million.