Rlys to add colour to train tickets, reservation forms

V Ayyappan | TNN 

Sept, 15, 2008

Chennai: Railway tickets, reservation forms and passenger charts will not look dull anymore, as the southern railway has decided to add a dash of colour to them and sell space for advertisements to generate revenue. 
    In the wake of the ban on hoardings, the railways have been getting good response from commercial agencies to advertise on trains and railway stations. 
    This has improved the potential for advertisements on railway tickets (reserved and unreserved), reservation forms and also passenger charts because these documents get maximum attention from the travellers. 
    Southern r

ailway is expecting to rake in approximately Rs 3 crore from advertisements in computerised reservation tickets and approximately Rs 3.86 crore from unreserved tickets. 
    Southern railway chief commercial manager passenger services E Sekaran said, “We are planning to allow advertisements

 in reservation

 forms and passenger reservation charts also. A tender will be floated again, as earlier tenders did not get the expected response.” 
    “This year’s target is Rs 42 crore, as against the Rs 26 crore revenue achieved last year from all types of advertisements in railway property,” he added. 
    An agency — Deepam Ads — has been awarded the tender for getting 

advertisements on railway reservation tickets. The redesigned tickets with advertisements will be issued in three months.s. 
    “A survey shows that people check their tickets on an average of six times to find out train number, ticket status and also for other reasons,” Deepam Ads marketing director Dinesh Kumar.