If you live in a city that has a suburban train network, such as Mumbai, you know the pain of standing in a queue to book tickets. That's why Indian Railways had introduced the UTS app. UTS stands for Unreserved Ticketing System and will only work for seats that don't require a reservation. So, it does the job for local trains.
As the pandemic hit the nation, the UTS app was non-operational for over 10 months after train services were stopped for general passengers in March 2020. However, now with the resumption of locals for the general public, the railway authorities have made the app available but the same can be used only during a stipulated time limit.
This decision has been taken to avoid overcrowding and long queues at the ticket counters, which will help to maintain social distancing norms at the station premises.
Meanwhile, with the general public now being allowed to board local trains the biggest challenge will be crowd control and maintaining COVID-19 norms. To ensure this, CR and WR will operate additional ticket booking counters, open up FOBs, lifts and escalators which were shut during the pandemic, widen the entry/exit gates and have RPF and GRP across the station and on platforms to monitor crowds and ensure people wear masks and maintain social distancing.
The state government has not allowed people to travel between 7 am to 12 noon and 4 pm to 9 pm. Accordingly, no tickets will be issued from the UTS app during this period. The railway administration has also clarified that the lockdown pass will be extended.
On Monday, February 1, a total of 2.11 lakhs tickets were sold on the Western Railway, this includes 1.82 lakh tickets and 30,000 passes till 4 pm.
According to reports, the Mumbai Division of Central Railway is selling about 8-9 lakh unreserved tickets via UTS mobile application every day in the pre-COVID era.
The UTS app allows you to book two kinds of tickets — paper tickets and paperless. Paper tickets require you to book on the UTS app and then print the ticket via an ATVM (automatic ticket vending machine) which is present in over 1,000 stations in India. On the other hand, paperless tickets, which are available in select cities, can be booked on the UTS app and do not need you to print them.
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