Wednesday, December 22 2004 13:54 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Indian Railways have decided to integrate various train enquiry services into one single platform of common No. 139, a computer server-based Interactive Voice Response System (IVRS) provided with adequate number of lines to cater to the users.

To increase the availability of this service to large users, the enquiry system will work as a call centre within One BSNL, Basic Circle, official release today (Dec 22, 2004) said.

"This new concept will make 139 (the service number) accessible to all telephone landlines, WLL and Mobile users in one Telecom Circle without prefixing the STD codes within such circle to make it a local call," it said.

Two such call centres at Patna and Bangalore have been commissioned since November 29, 2004, with 240 lines each terminated with a capacity to handle 100,000 calls daily.

Apart from the automatic IVRS, which will provide Passenger Numerical Record (PNR) status, accommodation availability, train arrival/departure information, 12 agents will also man the Call Centres to provide more user specific information.

This system, the release said, when successful will be extended across the Indian Railways and every BSNL Circle to provide a unified 3-digit Railway Enquiry System through advanced computer based IVRS to users.