Sunday, Nov 28, 2004
Sunday, Nov 28, 2004 |
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Bangalore
By Govind D. Belgaumkar
BANGALORE, NOV. 27. From Monday noon passengers in Karnataka and Bihar will have their queries on railway services answered quickly with the simultaneous launch of pioneering and passenger-friendly call centres here and in Patna. People from all over the two States can dial 139 for any of the railway services. "You will not get the busy tone," Mahesh Kumar, Bangalore Railway Divisional Manager, who is the brain behind the fully computerised call centres, told The Hindu here. The Bangalore call centre will have 240 incoming lines.
In other States
Such call centres would be set up in all States in phases, he said. Soon, people from all over India would be able to dial 139 for any railway-related information. While the Minister for Railways, Lalu Prasad, will inaugurate the facility in Patna, the Minister of State for Railways, R. Velu, will launch it here simultaneously. Calls to 139 would be charged as local calls, though all the calls made in Karnataka and anywhere in Bihar will land in Bangalore and Patna respectively, he said.
Other numbers
When the two call centres are activated, all other phone lines - 131, 132, 1361, 1362 and few other eight digit lines - which gave the required information to passengers till now, would cease to exist. Besides arrival and departure timings, reservation status and confirmation of tickets booked in the waiting list, the call centres would offer information including fares between stations, availability of facilities such as rooms in railway stations, platform where trains would arrive, and the number of one's coach from the engine.
Voice recognition
Soon, the call centres would be equipped to recognise voice. With this, using this facility would become easier. For example, a passenger requiring to know the fare from Bangalore to Patna may be asked by the computer to name the "from station" and then the "to station." After this, the call centre would give the fare. Those who wish to find out whether their tickets in the waiting list are confirmed or not, need not wait after dialing 139. They could dial their PNR number immediately after and the computers at the call centres would quickly read out the status. Those who wish to know availability of reservation on a particular train too could use this facility, according to Mr. Mahesh Kumar. They would have to dial the train number immediately after 139, followed by the date and month. If one wishes to find out the reservation status of the Rani Channamma Express (No. 6589) on November 30, he has to dial 13965893011. The queries that the call centre computer fails to handle would be transferred to the operators. The passengers, who wished to talk to the operators directly, might choose to do so, Mr. Mahesh Kumar said. Railtel Corporation of India, a public sector unit under the Ministry of Railways, has developed the software for the call centre of the Railways.
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