Rail Commuters from Udaipur will now be able to reserve their tickets using Debit and Credit cards.  This initiative makes Udaipur the first town in the zone to go cashless as far as Rail reservation is concerned.

Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways, Manoj Sinha inaugurated the Point of Sale Machine on the reservation counters at the Udaipur Railway Station.  Free Wi-Fi and Water ATM (Re. 1 for a litre of water) at the Railway Station premises were also inaugurated simultaneously on Monday, 12 December.

Installation of these machines, which are run and managed by the State Bank of India, have already been installed at Reservation centers in Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Chandigarh and other major railway stations.  Testing of these machines is currently being for Ajmer also.

Manoj Sinha, in his address to the attendees at the inauguration, also committed that the Udaipur – Ahmedabad Broad Gauge line will be operational by 2018.  Like all Ministers of State and Cabinet, Manoj Sinha also criticized the previous UPA Government saying that the previous governments have not done much for the state of Rajasthan (sic).

Free Wi-Fi at approximately 100 stations across India is expected to go live by March 2017.  This is a Google and RailTel initiative, where Google will provide Internet access and RailTel will provide fibre, power and switch infrastructure.

The direct train from Udaipur to Hardwar, which was expected to be inaugurated earlier this year, has been postponed till January 2017, citing technical reasons.  Direct Trains from Udaipur to Southern Indian cities is also expected to be announced before the next rail budget provided there are no technical difficulties, said the Minister.