Having waitlisted train tickets will no longer be as worrisome as it is now.Travelling ticket examiners (TTEs) will soon be carrying handheld devices linked in real time to the computerised reservation system, allowing them to allot seats to waitlisted passengers as and when seats are cancelled.

The device will also let TTEs check vacant seats and berths, transmit the information to the reservation system and have such vacancies allotted to the next passengers in line. For example, TTEs will be able to inform a waitlisted passenger that he will get a berth on reaching a particular station, since the current occupant is getting off there and the one who was to board the train there and take that berth has cancelled his ticket.

The device will be able to register passengers’ complaints and check and issue tickets. It will also have a credit and debit card reading device.

The Railway Ministry has sanctioned Rs 4 crore for the project and a pilot project will begin in a couple of months on the Mumbai-Amritsar Golden Temple Mail and four Shatabdi Expresses.

The Centre for Railway Information Systems has already developed the software, and manufacturers of handheld devices have been asked to submit expression of interest.

“Many passengers with reservation fail to show up, so many berths remain vacant. Since there’s no way this information can be fed into the system now, waitlisted passengers are robbed of a chance to travel on vacant seats,” an official said.