From April, Ranchi passengers travelling short distances, that is to places within a 200km radius of the station, can get unreserved passenger tickets and those coming to see off people can get platform tickets from automatic ticket vending machines.

A part of the ongoing Centre's Digital India initiative launched last year, the automated ticketing system will cover almost 50 railway stations within a 200km radius of Ranchi, important ones being Namkum, Muri, Bokaro, Chandrapura, Katras, Dhanbad, Ramgarh, Barkakana, Khilari, Latehar, Barwadih and Daltonganj.

So far, passengers and those coming to see them off had to queue up in front of seven ticket counters. With the automatic ticket vending machines, the pressure on the counters will ease somewhat.

The cash/smart card operated vending machines, which will be inaugurated in April first week at Ranchi railway station, were brought from South Eastern Headquarters in Garden Reach, Calcutta, two months ago.

Currently, cabling work is on while details of the 50 railway stations within the 200km radius are also being uploaded in the software.

These kiosks, which will have easy-to-understand graphical images for users to operate the touchscreen machines on their own, can also enable passengers to recharge their smart cards in dominations of Rs 20, Rs 30, Rs 50, Rs 100, Rs 150, 200, Rs 300, Rs 500 and above.

"We will be start distributing smart cards to our passengers next week before inauguration of automatic ticket vending machines," said senior divisional manager (commercial) Neeraj Kumar of Ranchi railway division.

Kumar added railway minister Suresh Prabhu was very enthusiastic about the automatic vending machines, with railway stations of metros such as New Delhi and Calcutta already having the facility.

"We are also looking forward to it," Kumar said. "We will not only able to cut the workload of employees manning ticket counters but also move towards creating a paperless workspace. I am sure many passengers will get their tickets from automatic vending machines. Overcrowding near counters will also be controlled up to a point," he added, hoping the vending machines would go a long way in overhauling the station's image.