Yesterday, I happened to go to Churchgate station. I decided to buy the Mumbai Suburban Railway Smart Card (aka ATVM Card). I had read about it earlier, and also seen others use it. I thought it might be useful to own a card. Here are the details you need to know (some photographs of the Smart Card / Receipt / Ticket are at the end of this post):
- Unlike the B.E.S.T. Smart Card, the railway smart card allows the card holder to purchase tickets from a machine called "Automated Ticket Vending Machine" (ATVM).
- The ATVMs have been installed at some (not all yet) stations; I've seen ATVMs at some stations that are yet to be made functional. One can be sure that the major stations have multiple functional ATVMs.
- The card is "loaded" with an initial amount (or when it is refilled). The fare of the tickets purchased is deducted from the amount on the card.
- This scheme works on both the Central and Western suburban railway stations. It is valid only for the Mumbai suburban section.
- Go to any ticket counter that is marked (some board near the counter tells you which one) to sell the Smart Card.
- The Smart Card can be loaded / refilled in multiples of Rs. 50, upto Rs. 500
- Initially, the Smart Card itself has a deposit of Rs. 50 (which is refundable under some reasonable conditions mentioned at the back of the Smart Card).
- (Probably) To attract customers to this scheme, the railways are offering a 5% bonus amount on every charge of the card. For example, if you load the card with Rs. 100, your card would actually be loaded with Rs. 105.
- Go to an ATVM. Place the card on the sensor on the ATVM. The ATVM has a touch-screen interface.
- Select the language (Hindi, Marathi, English).
- Choose the destination (zone)...and the station from the railway route map.
- Choose the number of adults and children.
- Select "Print" to print the tickets.
- The tickets are dispensed through the ATVM slot.
- Not all stations have the ATVMs installed. I landed up at Matunga (C. R.) only to find that the ATVMs were still kept in packed plastic covers.
- The card can be used by anyone. So, one of the benefits is that it could be shared by family members. The downside is that if the card is stolen / lost, it could be misused by whoever gets it.
- The time printed on the ATVM-issued ticket is the current time of the ATVM. One is supposed to commence the journey within 1 hour of this time. This is unlike the card tickets issued at the counter. The time is usually rounded up to the next hour. So, if you buy a regular card ticket at 10:05, the time printed on the card ticket would be 11:00. That gives one extra time to commence the journey.
- The user interface of the ATVM is not the best. It took me sometime to figure out how to get the interface in the English language. Second, I could not easily locate Matunga Road (as opposed to Matunga); the map is divided into zones, probably selecting the right zone is enough. It gave me a list of stations after selecting the zone, from which one has to select the destination. The other parts of the interface are also a bit confusing for the new user.
- It is not clear how the ATVM is supposed to "save time" in the long run. In the short run, of course, only those who have the cards line up for the ATVM. Thus, the ATVM queues could be expected to be much, much smaller than the ones at the ticket counters. In the long run, however, if many had these cards, the ATVM queues would probably be longer since it takes quite a while to conduct a transaction at the ATVM.
Here are the images for the front and back of the Smart Card:
The back-side has some "rules" for the refund.
The receipt provided along with the Smart Card that one is supposed to carefully preserve!
A ticket purchased using the Smart Card (Mumbai CST to Matunga).
24 comments:
Smart Card does not give you a ticket for a furthest station on that perticular Slab if you opt for a station prior to that.
eg. If you Select Vile Parle from Virar's ATVM , you should get Khar printed on ticket because Vile Parle and Khar both are Rs 11.
From Virar to Churchgate there are total 28 stations with 9 slabs of fare. Thus effectively the ATVM should print tickets with these 9 stations... In bracket is amount for Single II class.
which are Vasai (Rs .4)
Naigaon (6)
Kandivli (8)
Goregaon (9)
Andheri(10)
Khar (11)
Dadar (12)
Mahalaxmi (13)
Churchgate(14)
it is not important that the desired ticket is obtained but commuter should get farther most station ticket. because hardly any one knows these slabs.
So if some one buy a ticket for Nalasopara and could not get down becos of Rush, and managed to get down at Vasai , he /she will be treated ticketless even had paid till Vasai. So this is one of Flaw in ATVM/Smart card system.
Good post.. googled my way here. I have a question can season tickets be purchased with this?
This system has come to chennai as well lets see how they go about it here.
-Padmakishore
The Smart Card does not allow buying of season tickets...yet.
hi.
have the rail;way authorities done any kind of user training or circulated any pamplets to educate the public abt the card's usage.is it on sum website?
secondly are these cards interusable for buses n railways.
also i heard u hv to type/ click on ur boarding stn n whn u exit at ur destination point u hv to click. scan again else fare for longest journey would b charge. is tht a fact ?
hey
you can see the price slabs by selecting station tabs,
To get a fresh season Ticket you should have a valid IDentity Card and for that you need to have a registered ID Card and hence it is difficult to verify valid ID on ATVM hence they haver a p[olicy to only renew and not to have a fresh Season Ticket,.....
It can be done if you have a pre registered ID Card or a permennent passennger Number which can be used for futuristic travel through out life.......
Prashant Kanade prashant.kanade@gmail.com
@Mandar [first post] very intelligent post! :)
this machin is going to start in Delhi also......
i want to refill my smart card what should i do please send me imformation on my id karansarvaiya.996@gmail.com
can we change the place of atvm machines from ticket booking office place to railway bridge connecting platforms? as this wud help people save their time & people cud easily catch their trains.
i am having this problem b'coz my ticket window is far from the railway bridge from where i hv to get onto the platform.even coupon ticket machines should b placed on the bridge itself then it wud make a difference saving our time from buying ticket from nearer place towards the platform.
@Hiral: Your suggestion is very appropriate. I appreciate it. But you should redirect your feedback to the railways. This is not an official railway site, nor am I in anyway connected with the ATVM, except as a user like you.
can i get the return ticket using the smart card?
Can i get return ticket using smart card?
@KP: Yes, you can get a return ticket too using the ATVM. Just remember to choose the type "Single" v/s "Return"
Thank u tahnk u so much for sharing such a valuable information with us... In our Eastern railway section recently start Smart card facilities but in their website nothing any information about this smart card...
Anybudy know to get season ticket by atvm? I tried lot of time but not sucssed. Its asking me to enter uts no. From where I will get uts no.
@deven: For buying a season ticket from the ATVM, it is mandatory to have the railway photo ID card (its just a piece of paper like the ticket - not a thick card). The UTS number is mentioned on the ID card. This should be entered while buying the season ticket from the ATVM.
Make sure that you mention the name, age and sign the season ticket. Otherwise, it is invalid.
superbbbbh post....
one quest.... can i order it online....
pls send a mail regarding this at vivekgaggar@yahoo.com
how to get season ticket ??i have UTS number and ID card and ATVM card..
anon anotger question pls can i get exension ticket through ATVM
can we use smart card for priority in waiting list for ticket from chennai to bangalore....?
can we use smart card to book tickets between chennai to bagalore...?and is it true that one is given priority when he is in the waiting list ,when he/she has booked a ticket using this smart card...?
@sreevenkat; No, I do not think buying long distance tickets is permitted on the ATVM. In Mumbai, the ATVM is only for buying suburban local train tickets or the suburban local railway pass. There is also an option tobuy a platform ticket.
Can same card used at western cental and harbour lines
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