In a bid to attract the increasingly mobile traveller, the Ministry of Railways’ undertaking, the Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC), has started a mobile website to facilitate bookings via mobile phones. The Corporation has also tied-up with mobile payment service providers for mobile phone applications that can be used to book tickets viz. NGPAY, ATOM and Paymate.
A statement issued by the IRCTC said that the service is based on the web-services model in order to enable mobile phone users to access the web-based rail ticket reservation and enquiry services similar to www.irctc.co.in, according to a report by The Times of India. According to a statement, a user can use his existing www.irctc.co.in user ID to enquire or book tickets through the mobile website. The application is functional on most GPRS/browser-based phones, the statement said. After booking a ticket, the passenger will receive a message with full details of the ticket including PNR, train number, date of journey, class etc. This virtual message would be treated at par with the print-out of the e-ticket which is used at present. Hemant Tapale, Executive President, Pune-Mumbai Pravasi Sangh said, "The service would help passengers as they would not have to stand in queues for booking. Also, passengers opting for last minute bookings will benefit the most."
Click here to see the original article>A statement issued by the IRCTC said that the service is based on the web-services model in order to enable mobile phone users to access the web-based rail ticket reservation and enquiry services similar to www.irctc.co.in, according to a report by The Times of India. According to a statement, a user can use his existing www.irctc.co.in user ID to enquire or book tickets through the mobile website. The application is functional on most GPRS/browser-based phones, the statement said. After booking a ticket, the passenger will receive a message with full details of the ticket including PNR, train number, date of journey, class etc. This virtual message would be treated at par with the print-out of the e-ticket which is used at present. Hemant Tapale, Executive President, Pune-Mumbai Pravasi Sangh said, "The service would help passengers as they would not have to stand in queues for booking. Also, passengers opting for last minute bookings will benefit the most."