Pune Division clocks only about 3,000 bookings a day compared to 8-9 lakh in Mumbai.
While the Mumbai Division of Central Railway is selling about 8-9 lakh unreserved tickets via UTS mobile application everyday, Pune Division remains far behind in usage of the mobile app. In fact, Pune Division clocks only about 3,000 bookings a day, about 2,000 less than Nagpur Division, without recording any day of over 5,000 bookings.
The online service had started at suburban stations in April, 2018 as an easy alternative for commuters to book tickets on the go. The UTS app service was implemented at all stations under Pune Division in November, 2018.
Although UTS usage has improved in last 18 months, the progress has been slow. In the month of its commencement, only 4,099 commuters had used the app to book unreserved tickets the entire month. In April 2019, the overall number went up to 44,266. According to officials, the number has gone up considerably this year, with about over 3,000 passengers booking tickets using the UTS application every day.
Officials said that on Saturday (February 8), a total 3,882 passengers booked tickets using the app in Pune Division. The number for other divisions of Central Railway too recorded similar booking patterns, with Bhusaval Division recording 2,117 bookings, Nagpur Division 5,732 and Solapur Division 591 bookings on the day.
These bookings, however, stand nowhere close to the Mumbai Division, where an average 8-9 lakh tickets are booked every day. On December 12 last year, 8.33 lakh passengers had booked tickets using the UTS app, said an official. “In Mumbai, tickets booked through UTS account for about 10 to 11 per cent of total bookings on a day. On Saturday, earnings from the online sale of tickets amounted to over Rs 30 lakh, which is 12-13 per cent of the total earnings from the sale of unreserved tickets on the day,” said Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer, Central Railway.
Sutar said the record booking via UTS is a result of sustained efforts of the commercial department of Mumbai Division.
“Drives have been conducted at various stations to educate passengers about the features of UTS app, procedure to download it and how to use it. The UTS app promotion is also being done by advertising on ticket rolls, animated video and radio jingles. Besides, a bonus of 5 per cent and the ease of booking season tickets through the UTS app have also been widely promoted,” said Sutar.