CR’s Go Mumbai smart card scheme gets poor response

On an average,as many as 3.5 million commuters travel on the Central Railway. Of these,over five lakh card tickets have been issued through counters. Around 10% of these tickets are sold in the form of railway coupons and six percent of the tickets are sold through Automatic Vending Machines (ATVMs).

Through GO Mumbai cards,the CR earns a revenue of Rs 30,000 daily. From other ticketing sources,it earns around Rs 2.5 crore a day. “It is one of the simplest ways. Commuters just have to flash their cards in front of validating machines installed at railway stations,” said Shriniwas Mudgerikar,chief spokesperson,CR. “We are trying to popularise this service.”

“The Western Railway (WR) has not yet introduced this scheme and it has adversely affected the GO Mumbai Card project,” said a railway official on condition on anonymity.

“The WR has not launched the scheme so far. We are working on it and the scheme should be shortly launched in WR as well,” said Paresh Singh,managing director,Kaizen Automation Pvt Ltd.

The GO Mumbai card scheme was introduced by Kaizen Automation Pvt Ltd in April 2008. The card will help users travel in Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses and local trains.

For the BEST,the GO Mumbai card has proved to be a source of earning advance money too.

“As many as 15,000- 20,000 people use GO Mumbai cards on a daily basis. The service is currently available to commuters who avail of season tickets. We are planning to incorporate the scheme into daily ticketing system also,” said a BEST official.