Single ticketing delayed, Railways to be blamed?

Mumbai: The implementation of the Integrated Ticketing System (ITS), which was scheduled for December this year, is delayed as the Railway has not agreed to adopting the account-based ticketing system.

The railway officials are pressing that store-value system wherein there is a prepaid pass should also be adopted. In the account-based system, a passenger can directly swipe their debit/credit cards to purchase the ticket. The Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC) is yet to give a go ahead to the project.

Under ITS, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) aims to bring ticketing of all modes of transport — buses, trains, metro and monorail under one platform. “The railway board will pass a decision regarding the ITS in a next two weeks,” said Sanjay Singh, a MRVC spokesperson.

According to a senior MMRDA official, the indecision of railways has delayed the project for a year. “The ITS will be functional only by next year,” said the official.

According to officials, the store value system will pass on the revenue to concerned authorities the same day, whereas in the account-based system the revenue generated is passed on the next day. This has led to contemplation.