Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar/New Delhi: In a significant move, the Indian Railways has decided to do away with the practice of pasting reservation charts on all trains at A1, A and B category stations on a pilot basis starting from March 1, an official statement from the ministry said on Friday.

The railway ministry has directed its zones to implement the project on a trial basis for a period of six months. However to avoid any discomfiture to passengers, physical and digital display of charts will continue at the platforms.

Indian railways is divided into 17 zones and based on the income generation from passengers it has classified its stations into seven categories A1, A, B, C, D, E and F.

"At those stations where electronic charts display plasma has been installed and the same is functioning properly, physical reservation charts at such platforms can be stopped," the statement said.

The move comes after the successful implementation of this paperless service known as ‘Green Initiative’ in reserved coaches at New Delhi's Hazrat Nizamuddin, Mumbai Central, Chennai Central, Howrah, and Sealdah stations from October 16.

Earlier the South Western Railways Bengaluru Division (SBC) had discontinued pasting charts on reserved coaches of all trains from Bengaluru City and Yeshwantpur stations from November 2016. Sources said the move has helped save over Rs 60 lakh spent on paper by the division.

Besides, helping in conservation of environment, this paperless initiative will help save Rs 7 crore from the national exchequer, sources said.

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