Soon, SMS alert when wait-listed railway ticket gets confirmed

A senior Railway Ministry official said the wait-listed passenger will get a SMS about the status of the ticket on the mobile phone number given at the time of ticket booking.

Currently, one has to either dial the enquiry number 139, or use the Internet to know the status of the wait-listed ticket. Users can also get to know the status of their tickets at stations.

"Once the SMS-based service is operational, passengers will get the updated status of their wait-listed tickets automatically," the official said, adding "only those passengers will get the message whose tickets get confirmed."

CRIS, the technological arm of Railways, is making the software for the SMS-based service.

IRCTC has already launched a system for booking tickets using mobile phones, available across various platforms, including SMS-based ticketing services. IRCTC launched its SMS-based ticketing from July, describing the step as environment-friendly as no print-out is required.

A senior IRCTC official at the time had said "mobile-based booking provides the users ease and convenience of booking tickets from anywhere and anytime. There will be no requirement of a printout because the ticketing message will be considered as valid during the journey."

As per the requirement, one has to register the mobile number with IRCTC as well as one's bank. The bank provides MMID (Mobile Money Identifier) and OTP (one time password) for authorisation of payment.

The SMS-based ticketing service is described as very simple, with a passenger required to type the train number, destination, journey date, class and passenger details like name, age and gender on the SMS box.