Jostling for a seat or even a little space in the generalcompartments of long-distance trains may soon become a thing of the past. TheIndian Railways has tested a biometric system which, once implemented, allowpassengers in these compartments to gain a seat on a first-come-first-servebasis. Travelling in the general compartments of Indian trains can often be aharrowing experience. Pushing and shoving is a common sight and those with somemoney to spare, often end up paying bribes to porters or even certain RailwayPolice Force personnel just to get a seat here. But because people from thelower economic strata usually travel in the general compartments, money tobribe is often in short supply.

All of this chaos could soon change with a biometric systemrecently tested on the Pushpak Express running between Mumbai's ChhatrapatiShivaji Terminus and Lucknow Central.

It was observed during testing that a biometric system can goa long way in ensuring not just order inside trains but also on platforms. Whenpassengers arrive at a railway station, they have to insert their finger in thebiometric machines on their intended train which would then automaticallyreserve a seat for them inside. When the train is scheduled to depart, insteadof rushing to get in and find a seat, passengers can reach their pre-assignedseats in an orderly manner. Another big advantage of this system is that thebiometric system will allow for only as many fingerprints as is the capacity ofeach bogey of the said train. This would prevent trains from gettingovercrowded.

In addition, it is being said that such a system could alsogo a long way in ensuring safety and security - both at platforms as well as ontrains, while stamping out the need to pay bribes at all.

It has been learnt that Railways could implement such asystem in several long-distance trains, adding to the safety and convenience ofpassengers.