Summary:
Despite the convenience called automated ticket vending machines (ATVMs), introduced to cut queues at counters for unreserved tickets, only 7% of commuters in Chennai division of Southern Railway avail themselves of the facility, reveals a railway statistics. In the study, there was a unanimous view that commuters were not aware of the presence of a facility like ATVM.Another point was the placement of ATVMs at particular stations. It is meant for the spill-over crowd from the booking counters who can buy a ticket using an ATVM in just 15 to 20 seconds.While railways sells smart cards which can be swiped at the machines to buy tickets, all ATVMs have been assigned to facilitators, who are contractual staff, to help commuters buy tickets.In Chennai, almost every major suburban station has one or multiple ATVMs. In Madurai division, 16% use the ATVMs while for the Trichy division, the figure is 12% and for Salem, it is 11%.An internal railway study has thrown up interesting points. A section of officials cited it as reason for low response..