Western Railways Launches Missed Call Service for Local Train Updates

In a bid to reduce commuter woes by keeping its suburban passengers informed about delays and disruptions, Western Railways has launched a service through which commuters would be able to know the running status of local trains by making a missed call.

The commuter needs to dial the toll free number 1800 212 4502 and the call will get disconnected automatically after two rings subsequent to which an SMS will be sent informing the running status of the suburban trains.

This service was launched on Monday and the initial feedback from the commuters have very exciting, said Ravindra Bhakar, chief PRO of WR adding that Western Railway has hired a private agency to facilitate this service.

Outlining the importance of the service, Bhakar said, "This service will be a convenience to the commuters as they will be aware of the running status of local trains and will be useful, in particular, during unusual occurrences or disruptions."

Western Railways has tied up with a firm in order to facilitate the service.The information regarding running of services shall be communicated to the firm by the Railways at a stipulated schedule time, which in turn will be conveyed to the passengers accordingly, Bhakar said, adding that the best part of this service is that the system can be used by any kind of mobile phones be it smartphone or a basic mobile phone.

Commuters would not need an Internet connection, and the service is totally free of cost. Commuters can also alternately register themselves with www.mobitip.info for daily periodic updates at scheduled times.

Passengers representatives and commuters have, however, hailed this initiative with a cautionary note.

Kailash Verma, member of WR s Zonal Railway Users Consultative Committee (ZRUCC), said, "This is good that railway is launching such tech-savvy initiatives, but the most important thing is that it should stick with such initiatives because in recent past many other message based services were launched, but were scrapped over a period of time."

Another member of Western Railways' Divisional Railway Users Consultative Committee (DRUCC), Rajiv Singal also maintained the same stance, and said, "Use of technology to empower the commuters is always welcoming, but it must keep its servicing intact so that its importance does not fade away."