Forget Smart Cards, Just Swipe Your Phone to Use the Kolkata Metro

Say goodbye to smart cards and long queues at the ticket window.

The Kolkata Metro plans to unveil the mobile-based ticketing system soon. (Photo Courtesy: Kolkata Metro)

Long queues at ticket windows are all set to become a thing of the past at Kolkata Metro stations.

In the next few months, a mobile-based ticketing system will be rolled out to allow passengers to buy their tickets online and use the QR codes to board the metro.

An official told the Times of India that the Centre for Railway Information Systems (CRIS) system was at an advanced stage of development and was likely to become operational within the next few months.

How Does it Work?

No more smart cards or long queues to buy tickets from the counter.

Passengers will need to download the Kolkata Metro Railway app so they can buy tickets online and get their hands on the Quick Response (QR) code, which will be used at the metro gate.

All passengers need to do is download the app and purchase tickets. As soon as the transaction is completed, a passenger will receive a QR code. While entering the platform, the passenger needs to bring the mobile screen close to the sensor of the smart gate, just as they do with the smart cards.

Indrani Banerjee, Metro Railway CPRO

“ The railway minister wants people to spend less than five minutes at booking counters. For this, we have to reduce the number of people who physically visit booking counters,” a senior CRIS official said.

Such systems are very appropriate for urban transportation networks like Kolkata Metro Railway where many users use smartphones and know how to use apps.

A senior CRIS official

Some necessary changes will have to be made in the software that currently manages the Automatic Fare Collection (AFC) gates, the official said.

"The system is more complex for the Metro as it is unlike other railways where space isn't a constraint. Most passengers are likely to book tickets as they enter the stations. Necessary arrangements have to be made within the premises to ensure there is no delay," the official said.

The new system has already been tried out at the Kolkata Metro Railway headquarters in the presence of Mohd Jamshed, member (traffic), Railway Board, and general manager MC Chauhan.

(With inputs from The Times Of India)

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