Dial 139 for rail info
28 November 2004, Star of Mysore - Evening Daily on-line, Bangalore

 The Railways will introduce two call centres which will give information to the passengers. One will be based in Bangalore and the second in Patna.

While Railway Minister Mr. Lalu Prasad Yadav will launch it in Patna, Minister of State for Railways Mr. R. Velu will press the button at Bangalore tomorrow.

The 240-line, 24-hour call centre, can be accessed by dialling 139 (English, Kannada and Hindi) from anywhere in Karnataka and will be treated as a local call.

With this, the present numbers 1361 (English), 1362 (Hindi) and 1363 (Kannada) will cease to exist.

Bangalore Divisional Railway Manager Mr. R. Mahesh Kumar said:

"Dial 139 followed by PNR Number (all India) for the reservation position. Dial 139 followed by train number, date and month of journey, for availability of berth in all classes of the train."

The facility, being handled by RailTel, will also provide train arrival and departure timings, with exact position of the train in Bangalore division three hours in advance, and approximate position of the train outside Bangalore division through the National Train Enquiry, which provides the position of the train at major Railway Stations.

This information will be available across South Western Railway, including Mysore and Hubli divisions, after two months, the DRM said.

The 139 facility will also answer fare enquiry, besides details of concession as, public amenities, facilities for disabled, features of particular Stations etc.

This will help passengers plan journey better. If a train has a wait list, the system will give the passengers alternatives of accommodation availability on different trains in the sector.

For information on any other city, the passenger can just speak out the name of the city or dial the city's STD code.

Mr. Mahesh Kumar said the call centre will not be congested as it has 240 lines as against the present 50 lines in the voice interactive system.

The new facility will provide both voice interactive answers as well as operator answers.

Mobile technology is also being put to use: The SMS enquiry system to ascertain reservation status, besides booking over the mobile, will be launched in about three month's time.

The pilot project has already been introduced at Delhi.

Reservation booking through land lines will be introduced as a pilot project in one of the cities in the next couple of months. Internet booking is doing well.

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