In a move that could further ease passengers’ travelling experience, Indian Railways has removed a key restriction that will allow the purchase of unreserved tickets (UTS) from anywhere through an app, according to a report by Times of India.

Railway passengers can now get unreserved and platform tickets without stepping out of home, senior divisional commercial manager Saurabh Kataria was quoted as saying in the report.

Earlier, there was a restriction of outer border geo-fencing distance of 50 km radius for booking tickets. That limitation has been removed now, allowing railway travelers to book unreserved tickets from anywhere with a smart phone and an internet connection.

The move is likely to benefit train travelers, especially in cities such as Mumbai, where millions travel through local trains. Earlier, passengers could only purchase paperless tickets for suburban trains within a radius of 20 km and 50 km for non-suburban trains. The new changes could further spur online booking of tickets, reducing long queues at ticket counters on railway stations.

However, the laws on the inner limits remain unchanged, which permits purchase of tickets near railway station property. According to reports, presently around 25 percent of commuters use the UTS app to buy online tickets.

Meanwhile, on April 28, it was reported that the Indian Railways is planning to launch the first Vande Metro to transform the intra-city transportation system, a senior official closely associated with the project told news agency PTI.

"All preparations are going on to start its trial run from July 2024 so that its services can be offered to people as soon as possible," the official said.

Vande Metro will have several new features keeping in mind the travel needs of the city dwellers. It will be based on the latest technology to acquire high acceleration and deceleration which will help it cover more stoppages in less time.