139 - Indian Railways Tele-helpline Launches Dial “A” Ticket

by Mokkala Vasumathi September 29, 2008

“139 - Rail Sampark”, a national enquiry channel for Indian Railways, announced the launch of its Dial “A” Ticket (DAT) service for railway passengers here today. With this service being provided by Bharat BPO, railway passengers will be able to book tickets by calling the Indian Railways Tele-helpline number 139. Announcing the launch of DAT, Mr Pravin Kumar, Director, Bharat BPO said: “Passengers will find DAT more interesting as they will get more tangible form of service. Earlier, they were receiving information pertaining to Indian Railways, now, they can also book their tickets on phone. Hence requirements of callers are attended promptly and without any complexity. We have received more than an overwhelming response for 139 so far. Our support centers today receive over 7 lakh calls per day and it is encouraging for us to innovate further.” Mr Nalin Shinghal, Managing Director, Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation Ltd (IRCTC) said,” India's tourism and hospitality industry has emerged as one of the driving economic forces due to a large number of foreign and domestic tourists, visiting India. Indian railways are making consistent efforts to provide customers better enquiry services though Rail Sampark – 139. Facility of booking rail reservation ticket at 139 is one step forward in the better passenger service.By providing yet another option of booking tickets over the phone, our endeavor is to make travel much easier, convenient and hassle free. Currently the payment option for booking tickets at 139 is only through cash card, more options of payment would be added in the near future”.At Bharat BPO all phone transactions (cash or credit) are recorded to avoid any discrepancies if may arise or to handle issues of accountability. It should assure Indian Railways’ users to consider 139 as their reliable travel companion.” The initiative was started last year as an enquiry number to provide railway information. Today it celebrates one year of Private-Public Partnership by introducing other value-added services, the first being Dial – A – Ticket (DAT) amongst the comprehensive suite of services