Airport-Like Check-In At Railway Stations

Table of Contents

In a one-of-its-kind transformation towards ticketing system in the Indian Railways,
The national transporter is now moving towards contactless ticketing like at airports.

Check In at airport

Airport check-in is the process whereby passengers are accepted by an airline at the airport prior to travel.
The airlines typically use service counters found at airports.
Passengers usually hand over any baggage that they do not wish or are not allowed to carry in to the aircraft’s cabin and receive a boarding pass before they can proceed to board their aircraft.

The QR-enabled system will be given on tickets. If one buys online, the code will be provided on the ticket.
Railway Board Chairman VK Yadav said while 85% train tickets are currently being booked online, a QR code will also be available for those buying tickets from counters.
Even on window tickets, where one gets a physical ticket, a text message will be sent to the passenger’s mobile phone,
Which will have a link, and the QR code will be displayed when the link is touched, said Railway Board Chairman.
As a passenger enters the station premises,
The QR code of his ticket is scanned through a mobile application and this gets updated in the software’s database.
The time of scanning the QR code also gets updated in the application.
The station has check-in counters to minimise the exposure of the checking staff to the passengers.
The QR code is scanned and the thermal screening of passengers initiated at these counters.

At first, passengers arriving at Prayagraj Junction are taken to the station’s boarding hall where four new contactless check-in counters have been set up.
In each contactless counter, separated by glass, two-way display TFT monitors have been installed, one side faces the passengers while the other side faces the checking staff.
A webcam has been provided on the passenger side for scanning tickets and passenger identity particulars.
The ticket checking staff checks the PNR of passengers either through capturing particulars through the webcam or through the QR code scanning system.
On both sides of the counters, microphones and speakers have been provided for communication between passenger and ticket checking staff.
The onboard ticket-checking staff also gets information on passengers simultaneously.
After the passenger identity is confirmed along with the ticket checking,
A boarding pass is printed through a printer provided on the passenger side,
Containing requisite details such as name, PNR number, coach number, and berth number.
After receiving the boarding pass,
The passenger can enter the railway station premises as well as inside the train.
However, he/she should carry the ticket and identity card