Passengers use an automatic ticket vending machine at Bhubaneswar railway station on Wednesday. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 14: Passengers can now skip the long queues for buying general class train tickets. The Khurda Road division of the East Coast Railway has installed four automatic ticket vending machines (ATVMs) at the Bhubaneswar railway station.

The user-friendly machines were made functional this evening. While two of them have been installed at the entrance of platform No.1, the other two have been placed in the ticket booking office.

To avail the service, a passenger is required to place a smart card on the card reader slot of the ATVM embedded with touch screen operations. These cards can be bought by depositing Rs 100, which includes a usable balance of Rs 50 and a refundable security deposit of Rs 50. One can also top-up the card in multiples of Rs 50 from the nominated counters or get refund of the balance money from the railway authorities.

“One has to purchase a smart card from the office of the chief booking supervisor (CBS) at the station. It will work just like a mobile SIM card. However, at the time of buying the card, no document will be required to ascertain the identity of a passenger,” said an official.

To retain the card’s validity, one has to top-up the card at least once in six months. One can buy second-class unreserved tickets for passenger, mail/express or superfast trains to any station listed in a drop-down menu on the screen. The touch panels will provide information and instructions in Odia, Hindi and English.

“Booking for a maximum of four passengers can be made at one go. Before printing the ticket, passengers are requested to verify the amount of money deducted from their account and other details. Cancellation of the ATVM-generated ticket can only be done at the office of the CBS,” said the official.

The ATVMs are also able to generate platform tickets. One can renew season tickets through the machines as well.

There is also a provision for a bonus of 5 per cent on the fare value. “Recharge with Rs 100 and get a travel value of Rs 105. One has to be very careful not to lose the card. The card is transferable,” said the railway official.

In case of loss of the card, it will have to be reported to the issuing counter for immediate blocking and re-issue of a card. In such case, however, the security deposit of Rs 50 will not be refunded.

An East Coast Railway officer said they would watch people’s response to the ATVMs before installing more such machines. “The security personnel deployed at the station will keep a watch on the machines so that they are not tampered with or damaged by mischief mongers,” said the railway official.

“This is a welcome step. We will be spared the pain of standing in queues for hours,” said Sarmistha Mohanty, a daily passenger.