Information system in Indian railways INDIAN RAILWAYS INDIAN

Information system in Indian railways INDIAN RAILWAYS

INDIAN RAILWAYS • Total Length of railway tracks 64015 • Total no of passengers carried daily 20 m • Total amount of freight carried daily 2 million tonnes • No of employees 1. 6 million • No of passenger trains 9000 • No of wagons and coaches 2, 50, 000

Background • Second largest network in the world under single Management • Largest Employer in India • 12 million Passenger everyday – more than any rail system on earth • 500 million metric tons of freight annually • Largest civilian government department in India • 15 Zones, 6853 stations.

Challenges • Increasing number of pasengers / customers • Competition from improved roadways and air services • Unavailibility of easy, correct & timely access to information • Ineffecient management of resources • Growing demand for efficient and increased movement of frieght • Poor Customer Service/Satisfaction

Objective • Reduce cost • Reduce burden on staff • Improve efficiency • Provide better Customer Service

What are the solutions to address the problems faced by Indian railways? ?

Solution • Adoption of Customer-centric IT applications – UTS – NTES – ICMS – FOIS – CMS – PRS

Solution • Passenger Reservation System (PRS)- www. indianrail. gov. in – Web enabled – Journey Planning/Fare/Availibility – Reservation between any pair of station – Automatic upgradation – Uses centralized database – 97% reservation made through PRS presently

Solution • IRCTC – www. irctc. co. in – To remove burden on employees at booking counters. – Online ticket reservation system – Payments can be made both on Debit/Credit Card – Uses the Centralised database of Railways

Solution • National Train Enquiry System (NTES) – www. trainenquiry. com – Running position and arrival of train – Information passed on to customers via IVRS and Web

Solution • Freight Operating Information System (FOIS) – Instant information of current status of goods in transit – Helps in managing inventory – Helps in assest utilization

Solution • Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) – Introduced to address the issue of unreserved tickets – System uses centralized database to manage ticketing so that unreserved ticket can be bought from any terminal. – Brought simplicity and flexibility into the process of procuring tickets even for unreserved class

Crew Management System (CMS) This centralised software takes care of scheduling, training, and sign on and sign off of these workers. It provides an interface for communicating technical issues (such as problems in the track or locomotive) as well as personal issues (leave application, grievances). Finally, it ensures the security of the Railways by mandating biometric authentication of each work before and after their shift, and testing them for the consumption of alcohol.

INDIAN RAILWAYS What are the benefits to customers from the solutions discussed? ?

Outcomes • Benefits to customers – Transperancy – Universal Booking Counters – Upgradation/ instant update of Status – Reduced wait time – Customer satisfaction

INDIAN RAILWAYS What are the benefits to Railways from the solutions discussed? ?

Outcomes • Benefits to Railways – Increase in the sale of tickets – Increased revenue – Increased efficiency – Optimal utilisation of berths – Analysis of traffic pattern for better overall planning – Reduction in Revenue losses – Saving on Manpower – Eliminate possibilities of fraud