COLOMBO: Dilum Amunugama, Minister of Transport on 21 March launched a website and a mobile application for the first time in Sri Lanka for booking train seats online.
With the automatic reservation system, passengers will be able to book tickets for all the train routes. The system has been developed to include issuance of train tickets, train licenses and permits. The entire ticketing process has now been digitalised.The website (https://seatreservation.railway.gov.lk) and the Sri Lanka Railways Reservation Mobile App will enable the public to make their train reservations at anytime from anywhere in the world, revolutionising the travel experience in Sri Lanka.
In the future, the use of paper will also be minimized in the Department of Railways as electronic tickets will be issued through this system and those tickets will be able to be verified by the QR code.
Passengers will be able to purchase tickets for first-class and observation compartments, second-class and third-class tickets, as well as round-trip tickets and break journey tickets, will be given the ability to reserve seats.
Tickets can be purchased through several methods including Visa, MasterCard and Lanka QR and passengers can also come to the train stations with m-Ticketing service and obtain the reserved tickets by presenting the National Identity Card or Passport with the reference number on the ticket.
Secretary to the Ministry of Transport Monty Ranatunga, General Manager of Railways Dhammika Jayasundara, General Marketing Manager of SLT Mobitel Shasika Senarath, as well as officials of the Railway Department and SLT Mobitel were present on the occasion.
As the national transport service provider, Sri Lanka Railways strives to provide a better travel experience for the railway commuters, and the launch of the ‘Online Seat Reservation System’ in collaboration with SLT-MOBITEL further reaffirms the strategic direction of Sri Lanka Railways in offering cutting-edge technology led travel services. SLT-MOBITEL Mobile was the first ever service provider to create a National Scale Railway Ticket Reservation Platform in 2009.
Railway passengers experienced automated railway ticket reservations over the phone and over the counter for the very first time when SLT-MOBITEL Mobile first launched its platform, while it enabled SLR to digitalize their manual reservations process. The automated railway ticket reservation system facilitates the reservation of trains for all routes across the island by connecting railway stations throughout Sri Lanka.
The online seat reservation system has further bolstered the original system by digitalising the entire ecosystem of Sri Lanka Railways. The service has also been extended to major telco providers to provide a better service to commuters by facilitating over the phone reservation.
This is the first time in Sri Lanka that a state-owned entity such as Sri Lanka Railways has fully embraced digitalisation of operation by incorporating the latest LANKAQR which is easy, secure, and convenient to transact and allows customers to simply book their tickets at the touch of their fingertip.
