The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : He put the system on track

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 30, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

He put the system on track

Staff Reporter

This officer helped introduce passenger-friendly measures

Anwar Hussain

BANGALORE: Time was when rail passengers had to cope with being short-changed by booking clerks at unreserved ticket counters while at advance booking counters, passengers would know the status of seat availability only from the booking clerk.

All that changed with the introduction of the dual display system by the Bangalore Division of the South Western Railway in late 2007.

Passengers buying an unreserved ticket were informed of the exact fare on a monitor placed at the customer window, saving them time and tension.

Anwar Hussain, who introduced this system as Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (Sr. DCM), says the monitor at the customer window displays the availability of seats or the waiting list, as the case may be. This, Mr. Hussain says, has brought in transparency.

The “single-queue, multiple counter” system at reservation centres in the city has enabled passengers sit comfortably till their turn came.

Innovative measures

Now, Mr. Hussain has taken charge as the Senior Divisional Safety Officer at the Bangalore Division. The 2000 batch Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer, who hails from Bellary, was instrumental in initiating several passenger-friendly and innovative measures during his stint as the Sr. DCM between January 2007 and October 2009.

The measures included branding of special trains, digital charting system, dual display system at reservation counters, introduction of battery-operated mobile carts for the aged and physically challenged, leasing of parcel space in trains, a fully equipped mobile office space on Shatabdi and the like.

Branded coaches

Coaches of special trains were leased out to agencies to display advertisements, thereby fetching revenue. The contractor was also responsible for the maintenance of the coaches. The first of such trains was the Kurkure Express between Bangalore and Nagercoil.

Two battery-operated ferry carts at the Bangalore City station and one at the Yeshwanthpur station have been of much help to the aged and physically challenged.

While only 30 to 40 people were ferried on wheelchairs every day earlier, the carts now benefit over 300 people a day.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka