Lalu's e-ticket to fame: Railways on mobile

BOOK ON MOBILE: Passengers may soon be able to book tickets through mobile phones.

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New Delhi: Passengers may soon be able to book tickets through mobile phones, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said while presenting the Railway Budget 2008-09 in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

"There is phenomenal growth of mobile phones in our country, and at present about 30 crore (300 million) mobile phones are available with the people of India. This number is expected to increase to 50 crore (500 million by 2010)," Lalu Prasad said.

"We are therefore exploring the option of issuing reserved and unreserved rail tickets through mobile phones," he added.

The minister said passengers would now be able to buy waitlisted e-tickets also through the Internet.

"Presently e-tickets are issued only against confirmed reservation. In line with the demand of passengers, it has now been decided to extend the facility of e-ticket to waitlisted passengers also," Lalu Prasad said.

The government has decided to increase the number of UTS (unreserved ticketing system) counters to 15,000 from the present 3,000 and automatic ticket vending machines to 6,000 from the current 250, he said.