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Mamuni Das

Due to increasing Internet penetration

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New Delhi Jan. 26 The Indian Railways online ticketing facility has proved to be a huge hit as the total annual ticket bookings for 2006 witnessed a record 147 per cent growth compared with such bookings in 2005.

In calendar year 2006, 52.9-lakh passengers reached out to the Internet to book their train tickets compared with 21.4-lakh passengers in 2005.

The jump could be attributed to Indian Railways introducing the e-ticket booking facility in early 2006, apart from the increasing Internet penetration and awareness.

Simplifying Booking

Out of the total online bookings, share of e-tickets has been increasing steadily. E-tickets accounted for 65 per cent share in the first three weeks of January 2007, up from 62 per cent (December `06), 48 per cent (June '06) and 14 per cent (January '06), official sources said.

With e-ticket booking facility, the Railways simplified the Internet-based ticket booking process significantly as it allowed passengers to take a ticket printout at their own end after booking the ticket. The i-ticket facility, which was introduced since 2002-03, allows the user to book a ticket through the Internet but the ticket print out is taken by Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) and delivered by post to the passenger.

Given such increase in volumes, IRCTC, the Railways arm handling this initiative, has indicated that it may lower charges for online bookings.

As for the break-up based on AC and non-AC travel, 59 per cent of total tickets booked were for the non-air conditioned travel, whereas 41 per cent were booked for AC travel in December.

Cities clicking the most for such tickets are Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune, Surat, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Thane and Secunderabad.

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