New Delhi

New fare collection system for Metro Phase II

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation will install automatic fare collection equipment at all 41 stations of the railway network’s second phase. The equipment will allow faster passage for commuters and improve passenger management.

The machines, currently deployed at the software development centre in Shastri Park for a dry run, have a provision for return of tokens from the ticketing gates.

Explaining how the new system will come in handy for passengers who have been provided with invalid tokens, a DMRC official said: “All tokens are inserted in the slot and checked for validity. Invalid tokens are returned through a token return cup whereas valid tokens remain captured and access is provided to the passenger. In case of an invalid token the passenger can retrieve it and hand it to the operator for appropriate action at the customer care centre. The current lot of automatic fare collection (AFC) gates do not have this provision.”

These gates use the real time operational system technology which calculates a passenger’s fare automatically according to the distance covered. AFC gates store tokens deposited by commuters. A normal AFC gate gives a commuter ten seconds to pass through, after which the flaps close, but the AFC gates for the physically challenged are wider and give 20 seconds to pass through.

The AFCs for the Phase II will have touch screens for ticket office machines (TOM). “Touch screen interface provides ease of operation for the TOM operator, thus improving passenger handling. A reader is installed inside the TOM, which will reduce the manual operation in case of a token problem. This will help in reduction of waiting time at the ticket window,” said the official.

“The AFCs will have a passenger-friendly design including ergonomically placed passenger information display and will be equipped with a central clearing house system for back-end revenue reconciliation between different operators including the Airport Express Line, the proposed DLF Metro,” the official added.

Equipment for the Phase II stations is being procured from a consortium of Samsung SDS Company Limited, Korea, and Kalindee Rail Nirman (Engineers) Ltd., India, for 41 stations of Phase II’s Inderlok-Mundka, CTST-Badarpur and Qutub Minar-Gurgaon corridors. More than 300 AFC gates will be procured for the Phase II stations.

“In Phase I, the supplier did all the assembling and installation works. But now these works are being done by DMRC itself, thus increasing cost efficiency. There are 146 such gates on Line 1; 137 on Line 2; and 254 on Line 3,” the DMRC official said.

DMRC AFC gates recognise contact-less smart cards and contact-less tokens. “Contact-less tokens for single journeys were introduced for the first time by the Delhi Metro and have now been adopted by the Hong Kong, Bangkok and Taipei Metros,” the official added.

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