Tuesday, June 30, 2015

Common mobility cards issued as tickets

C Shivakumar
Chennai:

The smart cards issued by Chennai Metro could be the ones which could
be used as common mobility in suburban trains as well as buses.



These cards have been manufactured by Delhi Metro. They could be
programmed as common mobility cards,” said the official.



Interestingly, the common mobility card could not materialise as
discussions are still going on with Metropolitan Transport Corporation
and suburban rail officials. “We hope this could be resolved soon,”
said the official.



“The issue is lack of infrastructure to have common ticketing system.
We have proper barricades and proper checking system which they lack,”
said the official.



Currently, Chennai Metro has 10 lakh of such cards and plans are on to
have a tie-up with State Bank of India to issue these cards. “SBI will
be issuing the Metro Rail cards to its bank account holders,” said the
official.



Plans are also on to tie up with other banks once SBI starts giving
out the cards., which is likely in next two to three months. Talks are
also on with Government officials from the state transport authority,
Centre for Railway Information Systems, Chennai Metropolitan
Development Authority, call taxi operators and representatives of bus
ticket booking websites, the official said..



These contact less smart cards (CSE) has the facility to be used for
32 different purposes. “It could be even used in malls,” said a metro
rail official



Hema, a ticketing operator, said that the cards currently have a
minimum value of Rs 100, of which Rs 50 is a one time deposit. It can
be recharged to a maximum value of Rs 3,000, said Hema, who was giving
out the smart cards at the Koyambedu Metro station.



Interestingly, Chennai Metro has asked her to provide 1,000 cards a
day from the Koyambedu Metro station counter, said Hema, who has
switched her profession of teaching in a private school.



Talking about the nature of her job, she said that currently, they
have staff who work on two shifts. “We will have four people per day
who will look after the operations,” she said.



Talking about the validity of the card, it is learnt that the card
will be valid from the period of last recharge. “the card can be
recharged at ticket vending machines in the station,” the official
added

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