Unreserved Ticketing System

and
Passenger Reservation System
1. Introduction
When Manual working system was in vogue, PCT reservation tickets were issued
through the pigeon holes of the ticket tubes and the details used to be recorded
in the KARDEX register which contains the full details of the passenger, train No.
date of journey, seat/berth No. etc. and this KARDEX register forms base for
preparation of the chart. There used to be an allegation against the Railway
personnel that berths were allotted as per their will and pleasure. Though there
is no fact always in the allegation, it is a fact that manual system was not
transparent. To overcome this problem and also as a part of passenger amenity,
the huge project of Computerized Passenger Reservation System (PRS) was
introduced in 1984-85

1985: Pilot Project online at Delhi

1988: IMPRESS (Integrated Multi-train Passenger Reservation System)

Phase-I implemented

1991: IMPRESS Phase-II implemented

1994: CONCERT (Country wide Network of Computerized Enhanced

Reservations and Ticketing) phase-I implemented

1997: CONCERT phase-II implemented

1999: All India Network commissioned

2001: Alpha Migration (Working of single software all over IR)

2002: E-Reservation on Internet (I-ticket)

2003: Booking after charting (VAL- Validated Available Passengers List)

2005: E-ticketing thru Internet cafes/Internet at homes

Covering all the zonal railways over IR five Main frame servers were established
to provide reservation from anywhere to anywhere on a single window, it was
decided to network all five systems. CRIS (Centre for Railway Information
System) was given the task of linking all the five systems under unique software.
Thus CONCERT (Country Wide Network Computerized Enhanced Reservation &
Ticketing) Software was introduced from Sep’1994. Chennai system was the last
one to be networked with other systems w.e.f. 18.04.1999.

The software developed by M/s. CMC, tested and certified by the other 4 PRS
systems was transported to suit the CYBER 930 computers at all the five servers.
The software used at the time of introduction was IMPRESS (Integrated Multi-
train Passenger Reservation System).
CONCERT is developed on open VMS platform in “C” and FORTRAN language
using flat file system. To enable smooth networking transactions it is on Client
Server Architecture using RTR (Reliable Transaction Router) as the middleware.

While reservations are computerized, simultaneously, unreserved tickets were

also computerized. Initially this job was given to private and state govt. public
sector organizations like M/s ORG Pvt. Ltd, KELTRON. UPTRON etc., They had
developed standalone machines which were initially called as RTMs (Rail Ticketing
Machines) and were later renamed as SPTMs (Self Printing Ticketing Machines)
Lot of problems and frauds were faced by the administration (which were
envisaged under FRAUDS) since these are standalone systems and the data has
to be fed in to each system separately through E-PROMs (Erasable Programmable
Read Only Memory). To overcome the problems faced in the working of SPTMs
M/s CMC was asked to develop a better system of ticket issuing machines and
thus ARTS (Advanced Railway Ticketing System) was developed by CMC. These
were also stand alone machines and further development to this in 1998 SMARTS
(Scalable Modular Advanced Railway Ticketing System) was developed with a
LAN atmosphere. While SMARTS contributed towards reducing ticket inventory
and provided automated accounting at the station level, the system had several
limitations viz., non-availability of the facility for across-the-counter cancellation
of tickets, increased transportation cost in updating program logic, need for huge
manpower and lack of centralized control over individual booking offices etc. To
overcome these limitations, IR planned (2001-02) a new System - Unreserved
Ticketing System (UTS) for implementation initially at 23 locations in Delhi area.
Centre for Railway Information System (CRIS) was the nodal agency for
procurement of hardware and development of software that started from August
2002. UTS has since been replicated in all the zones of Indian Railways. Later on
similar lines of PRS UTS was also developed with Zonal networking facility.

On- line reservation of passenger traffic on Indian Railways is being carried out
through five systems functioning at five different locations with on – line and off
– line activities. Nodes defined for each of this system are:

Location on-line off-line

1. New Delhi (DLI PRS) Lotus & Orchid Lilac

2. Secunderabad (SC PRS) Mahi & Pavan Neeru

3. Calcutta (CAL PRS) Lion & Tiger Deer

4. Mumbai (BB PRS) Dharma & Arjun Nakul

5. Chennai (MAS PRS) Citius & Fortis Altius

2. Description of the system

There are five mainframe servers are established –

 New Delhi  covering NR,NER,NWR & NCR
 Kolkata  covering NEFR, ER, SER, SECR, ECR & ECoR
 Mumbai  covering CR,WR WCR
 Chennai  covering SR & SWR and
 Secunderabad  covering SCR

CONCERT NETWORK TOPOLOGY

1 64 KBPS Leased Line6
1 2MBPS Leased line
CRIS

Delhi PRS kolkata PRS

2 MBPS (x2) Leased 1 64 KBPS Leased Line6
Line
1 2MBPS Leased line

64 KBPS (x2) Leased

Mumbai PRS Line

64 KBPS Leased Line

Secunderabad PRS
64 KBPS Leased Line
1 2MBPS Leased line
Delhi

64 KBPS (X 2) Leased Calcutta

Line

Mumbai
SecBad

Chennai PRS
Chennai 5

Figure 01: Main Server connectivity

All the servers are connected with each other in a network with mesh topology as
shown in Figure 01. Each serves is working as main server for the trains originate
from its covering area and others are acting as backup server. If someone in
process to reserve a ticket of a particular train, then it access the database of the
train in the server which is covering the originating station of that train. And after
the booking the same is backed up / synchronized with other servers in real time.
3. Power Plant System
4. Protective devices
The main enemies of the electronics system are sudden power cut and the surge.
These may cause damage in system. To avoid these UPS and Spike Buster to
minimize the risk of system damage.

5. Periodical Measurements
6. Measuring Instruments
7. Common Failures
The most common failure observed in this system are as follows –

 Power Failure: The main source of the power supply is state electric
supply. It is experience in many stations located at small town or village
that power supply not available even for few days. In such cases the
available battery back-up also fails for such long duration. The only
available option is traction power. But the voltage of this is varies with
train movement. This frequent fluctuation of voltage leads the system
towards damage.

 Media Failure: Another frequent failure is media failure. This may occur
due to cable/fiber cut. But it takes few seconds to restore the effected
terminals through protection path of the network. To recover the damage
path the message forwarded to concern department to take care.
 UPS (10 KVA)
AC Main Stabilizer
Out put

Charger Inverter

Battery Bank,
240V, 65AH

 Router/Switch port Failure:

 Synchronization loss between G.703 and V.35:

 Low Reliability:

 Local lead Faulty:

8. Troubleshooting
9. Documentations
10. Suggestions
11. Conclusion
12. Acknowledgement
13.