As many as 38 Automatic Ticket Vending Machine (ATVM) kiosks have been installed at 25 railway stations of Varanasi Division of North Eastern Railway (NER) on the instructions of Divisional Railway Manager (DRM) Vineet Kumar Srivastava. Under the leadership of Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (SDCM) Shaikh Rehman, these ATVM kiosks have been installed at 38 locations in 25 stations of the division to enable passengers to book unreserved tickets in a smart manner by avoiding      the hassle of long queues           at      the unreserved ticket counters.

The SDCM said that now it would be easier for common passengers to get unreserved tickets and they would be able to get unreserved tickets themselves through ATVM kiosks. He informed that four such ATVM kiosks each have been installed at Chhapra Junction and Siwan Junction railway stations, two each at Banaras, Varanasi City, Ghazipur City, Azamgarh, Ballia, Mau and Deoria Sadar stations and one ATVM kiosk each at Prayagraj Rambagh, Gyanpur Road, Siswan Bazaar, Kaptanganj, Suremanpur, Belthara Road, Rasra, Ekma, Indara Jn, Jakhanian, Aunrihar Jn, Duraundha, Mairwan, Thawe Jn, Bhatpar Rani and Bhatni Jn stations.

He further informed that facilitators have been deputed on all these ATVM kiosks to help the passengers. Nine such facilitators have been deputed in Chhapra, eight in Siwan, three each in Ballia, Mau, Deoria Sadar, two each in Banaras, Varanasi City, Ghazipur City, Prayagraj Rambagh, Indara, Suremanpur, Duraundha, Mairwan, Thawe and Bhatni stations and one each in Azamgarh, Gyanpur Road, Siswan Bazar, Kaptanganj, Belthara Road,  Rasra, Ekma, Jakhanian and Aunrihar.

Shaikh Rehman said that through these ATVM kiosks, passengers can not only get unreserved tickets but can also make an inquiry like the station from which one has to go. “Now passengers will not have to stand in long queues. If they wish, they can get their tickets issued through these ATVM kiosks themselves or can get their tickets issued with the help of a facilitator. In this machine, tickets can be obtained by scanning the QR code through Android mobile and making digital payment or in case of any problem, one can get the facility to get one’s journey ticket by paying cash to the facilitators appointed by the Railways at ATVM kiosks,” he said.

Telling about working mechanism of ATVM kiosks, the SDCM said that for travel ticket booking, one has to select the destination station from the map or by entering other station options, select the ticket type, select passenger number and train type, payment option and then select QR Pay option from any UPI App, scan the QR code shown on the screen and make the payment and do not take it out until the entire ticket is printed and automatically gets separated from the machine, he said, adding that precautions to be taken while using ATVM kiosks as this is a touch screen machine, so please use only finger to select it and do not use pen, pencil or sharp objects to select the screen. Besides, one should also not spit or spill liquids on the kiosk/screen. In case of any inconvenience related to ATVM kiosks, one should contact the Chief Booking Supervisors/Shift Supervisors, he said.