Railways To Phase Out General Ticket Counters

14 Jul 2025 CW Team

Indian Railways is preparing to shut down general ticket counters for non-reserved travel and withdraw permanent staff from these roles, replacing them with private agencies and Mobile UTS (M-UTS) assistants. Initially a pilot initiative, this system will be rolled out in phases to reduce manpower at general counters and redeploy staff to other departments.

M-UTS assistants are being deployed at selected stations on a contractual basis, issuing tickets to passengers. Private ticketing agencies, such as Jan Sadharan Ticket Booking Sevaks (JTBS)—operational since 2019—and Station Ticket Booking Agents (STBAs), already manage sales across several locations, especially in Kerala.

Additionally, Automatic Ticket Vending Machines (ATVMs) and retired staff operating on contract are being leveraged for ticketing services.

Railways has also begun converting Tatkal PRS counters into Integrated Unreserved Ticketing System (IUTS) counters, which act as reservation desks during fixed hours and unreserved ticket counters at other times.

At night, station masters have had to issue unreserved tickets, raising security concerns. In response, Southern Railway has decided to relieve station masters from both ticketing and passenger information duties.

This shift to a tech-enabled and privatised ticketing model reflects Indian Railways' broader effort to improve efficiency and resource allocation.

Infrastructure Urban

05 Nov 2025

TBO Tek Q2 Profit Climbs 12%, Revenue Surges 26% YoY

TBO Tek Limited one of the world’s largest travel distribution platforms, reported a solid performance for Q2 FY26 with a 26 per cent year-on-year increase in revenue to Rs 5.68 billion, reflecting broad-based growth and improving profitability.The company recorded a Gross Transaction Value (GTV) of Rs 8,901 crore, up 12 per cent YoY, driven by strong performance across Europe, MEA, and APAC regions. Adjusted EBITDA before acquisition-related costs stood at Rs 1.04 billion, up 16 per cent YoY, translating into an 18.32 per cent margin compared to 16.56 per cent in Q1 FY26. Profit after tax r..

Northern Graphite, Rain Carbon Secure R&D Grant for Greener Battery Materials

Northern Graphite Corporation and Rain Carbon Canada Inc, a subsidiary of Rain Carbon Inc, have jointly received up to C$860,000 (€530,000) in funding under the Canada–Germany Collaborative Industrial Research and Development Programme to develop sustainable battery anode materials.The two-year, C$2.2 million project aims to transform natural graphite processing by-products into high-performance, battery-grade anode material (BAM). Supported by the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Programme (NRC IRAP) and Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs a..

Antony Waste Q2 Revenue Jumps 16%; Subsidiary Wins Rs 3,200 Cr WtE Projects

Antony Waste Handling Cell Limited (AWHCL), a leading player in India’s municipal solid waste management sector, announced a 16 per cent year-on-year increase in total operating revenue to Rs 2.33 billion for Q2 FY26. The growth was driven by higher waste volumes, escalated contracts, and strong operational execution.EBITDA rose 18 per cent to Rs 570 million, with margins steady at 21.6 per cent, while profit after tax stood at Rs 173 million, up 13 per cent YoY. Revenue from Municipal Solid Waste Collection and Transportation (MSW C&T) reached Rs 1.605 billion, and MSW Processing re..