M Suburban Train Ticket System
- 2. 2 Agenda Introduction Problem Definition Proposed Solution Block Diagram Flowchart Technical Implementation Hardware & Software Requirements Features Benefits Application Future Enhancement
- 3. Introduction Mumbai Suburban Railway (MSR) carries about 7.24 million passengers daily. The existing ticketing system is causing a considerable increase in the travel time due to a major drawback- “long queues‟, which absorbs a significant portion of the travelling time. On an average, a commuter spends around 15 minutes in the queue at the suburban booking office windows of Mumbai. ATVMs (Automatic Ticket Vending Machines) and (CVM) Coupon Validating Machines; technologies are already implemented in the Mumbai Suburban Railways. 3
- 4. Existing System (1/3) On 10th October, 2007, “ATVM (Automatic Ticket Vending Machine)‟ technology was introduced in the Mumbai Suburban Railway in order to curb the long queues for tickets. The major drawback with the existing ATVM is the scalability issue. Only 6-7 tickets can be issued per minute through a ATVM. Another major issue with this system is the cost of installing the machine. Each machine costs around 175,000 INR excluding the maintenance costs which vary according to the usage intensity. Another issue is that there are various public grievances reported regarding the functioning of the ATVM. Instead of hopping from machine to platform, passengers have to hop from one machine to another as most are non-functional. 4
- 5. Existing System (2/3) Another major issue is that each machine occupies 2m x 3m x 3m which is a major concern in existing densely populated railway stations of Mumbai. Also ATVM is not eco-friendly as it issues “paper” ticket. Around 100 meters of paper per 2000 tickets are used. Nearly 40000 tickets in WR and 110,000 tickets in CR are issued per day through the machine. 5
- 6. Existing System (3/3) Another technology currently under use is the CVM (Coupon Validating Machine). CR has 343 CVMs while WR has 230 CVMs and it issues around 100,000 tickets per day in WR and 291,000 in CR. Major drawback with this system is that fraudulent coupons can be pushed into circulation as CVM network is not linked with Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) operated unreserved ticketing system that accounts for all the transaction done through booking windows and ATVMs. 6
- 7. Proposed Solution Keeping all the problems discussed in mind, we decided to go one step further by having a system where the suburban ticket will be in the form of SMS. The aim of our project is to ease the suburban ticket issuing system. This will help people to easily book the suburban tickets without any problems. With “M-Suburban Train Ticket System‟, any number of tickets can be issued as it involves use of commuter’s computer and mobile phones for booking and issuing a ticket. With M-Suburban Train Ticket System the cost of hardware only includes installation of gateways and server. 7
- 8. Implementation (1/2) M-Suburban Train Ticket System basically is structured in the form of two modules which can be broadly categorized in the following: – Role of Commuter – Role of MSTTS (M-Suburban Train Ticket System) 8
- 9. Implementation (2/2) Role of Commuter Need to create an account Refill account with appropriate amount Ticket can be booked through SMS or Web application Role of MSTTS Will have central database storing all the information Accepts the incoming request for Ticket Process the request and sends the SMS 9
- 11. Technology Front End • ASP. Net • C# Back End • MS Access • SQL SMS • AT Commands 11
- 12. Hardware / Software Details Hardware Software 12 Pentium Dual Core or above Processor 1 GB RAM 20GB HDD GSM Modem Windows XP/ Windows Vista / Windows 7 .NET Framework 3.5 Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 Nokia PC Suite
- 13. Features • Book ticket for Mumbai Suburban Trains (Western, Central, Harbour) • Web based application • Easy to use interface • Ticket through SMS • Book ticket in less than a minute • Train timings info 13
- 14. Benefits • Cost Effectiveness • Eco Friendly • Easy to use interface • Ticket through SMS • Book ticket in less than a minute 14
- 15. 15 Applications Train Ticket Bookings Bus Ticket Bookings