What are HHTs?
A hand held terminal (HHT) is an electronic gadget with the size of a tab. It will be loaded with passenger reservation chart. This is connected with Passenger Reservation System through GPRS. This will update the details of booking of tickets through online method at every station where the train stops.
Bhubaneswar: Hand Held Terminals (HHTs) will be introduced in East Coast Railway (ECoR) before the New Year’s Day as part of the national transporter’s effort to introduce digital initiatives.
ECoR sources said it has received 33 HHTs of which 21 HHTs are for Bhubaneswar based Rajdhani and 12 for Puri based Shatabdi trains.
SIM cards are being provided and the scheme is ready to be launched within the next few days.
Sources said all the ticket checking staff of Rajdhani/Shatabdi trains will be provided with latest gadgets.
The HHTs will bring transparency and avoid corruption in allotting berths for Reservation Against Cancellation (RAC) or waiting list passengers on running trains.
It can be used for collecting excess fare, penalty and other charges from passengers and issuing the receipt for the same to them.
Passengers with RAC or waiting list tickets can check with the TTE’s HHT about the availability of vacant berths.
It will result in greater availability of vacant berths to wait-listed passengers, thereby ensuring passenger satisfaction, increased railway revenue apart from boosting the digital India initiative.
The HHT will give more self-respect and pride to checking staff as they will be working with the gadgets. It will also help in preserving the environment as the checking staff will not have to carry reservation charts.
ECoR sources said HHT was introduced in Patna-New Delhi Rajdhani Express Monday.