NEW DELHI, Feb 3: The Indian Railways plans to upgrade its capacity of issuing tickets from 25,000 at present to 2.25 lakhs per minute and attending to enquiries from 40,000 to four lakhs per minute, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Friday.
Speaking to media persons, Vaishnaw said a target had been set to lay new railway tracks for a distance of 7,000 kilometres in financial year 2023-24. “We plan to improve the passenger reservation system’s back-end infrastructure. At present, the capacity of ticketing is around 25,000 tickets per minute. The target is to upgrade it to 2.25 lakh per minute,” “The capacity for attending to enquiries will also be upgraded from 40,000 per minute to four lakh per minute,” Mr. Vaishnaw added.
He also announced that “Jan Suvidha” convenience stores will be constructed at 2,000 railway stations across the country, which will remain open round the clock. The 2022-23 target of laying railway tracks for a distance of 4,500 kilometres (12 kilometres per day) has already been achieved, the Minister said, adding, “Before 2014, this used to be four kilometres per day. The railways has set a target of laying new railway tracks for a distance of 7,000 kilometres next year.”
(Manas Dasgupta)