Fadnavis gives push to integrated ticketing system for MMR

MUMBAI: Harried local commuters using multiple modes of transport could soon have some relief coming their way. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and railways minister Ashwani Vaishnaw in a meeting on Saturday reviewed a plan for an integrated ticketing system (ITS) on a single mobility platform for the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

The ITS, which is expected to be launched soon, could play a complementary role to the public transport network. Government officials involved in the process claimed that the network too was to be upgraded with some or the other mode of public transport available to commuters at every 300 to 500 metres.

The demand for a single ticketing platform for MMR commuters, who use a combination of suburban trains, metros, BEST buses, cabs and autos, is a long-standing one. Consequently, the ITS system has been under discussion for the past several years.

On Saturday, Fadnavis held a review meeting on the ITS system at the Sahyadri guest house in Mumbai. Along with Vaishnaw, Praveen Pardeshi, CEO of the Maharashtra Institution for Transformation (MITRA), was present as were officials from the railways, BEST and Maha Mumbai Metro.

Fadnavis said that the ITS would soon be launched. “It will help streamline transportation and save passengers’ time by weeding out hurdles,” he declared. “Commuters will experience speedy and hassle-free connectivity from start to end.”

MITRA has shouldered the responsibility of setting up the ITS system by taking the technical assistance of the Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC). “As each of the public transport agencies, including railways, buses and taxis, are managed by different government or private entities, commuters have to buy multiple tickets and cannot integrate multiple modes of transport easily,” said Pardeshi. “The central government has created the ONDC platform on the lines of NPCI (National Payments Corporation of India), which provides an urban mobility payment gateway to enable commuters to buy tickets from a single platform.”

The ITS system aims to facilitate eight million train commuters, of whom 3.2 million take BEST buses while the others take taxis, autos, app-based cabs and the metro. Pardeshi said that ultimately all the apps on ONDC would enable commuters to not only make a single transaction for multiple journeys but also integrate journey-planning by timing the local trains with BEST buses or metro trains.

Vaishnaw said that the railways were investing ₹17,107 crore to start 300 more local train services in addition to the existing 3,500 services in MMR. “The central and state governments have invested ₹1.70 lakh crore in railway infrastructure in Maharashtra,” he said.