Prayagraj Division of North Central Railway witnesses a massive surge in digital ticket payments

The North Central Railway has successfully resolved the long-standing issue of small change at railway ticket counters within the Prayagraj Division by actively promoting digital payment methods. Passengers are increasingly embracing the convenience of paying for general and unreserved tickets by scanning QR codes instead of relying on exact cash.

As of August 2026, digital payments accounted for 17.23 percent of total ticket sales at Unreserved Ticketing System (UTS) counters in the division. This marks a remarkable rise from 12.27 percent recorded in April 2026, demonstrating a steady month-on-month growth of 12.86 percent in May, 14.36 percent in June, and 15.25 percent in July, reflecting an overall 4.96 percentage point increase over five months.

Expansion of Digital Infrastructure

Shashikant Tripathi, Chief Public Relations Officer of North Central Railway, confirmed that all reserved and unreserved ticket counters across the division are now fully equipped with QR code scanning facilities. Under the active guidance of Senior Divisional Commercial Manager Hari Mohan and Public Relations Officer Amit Kumar Singh, digital payment capabilities have been successfully rolled out across all 276 ticket counters in the division. Passengers can now seamlessly utilize UPI, QR codes, debit cards, and credit cards to purchase tickets, which has effectively ended daily passenger complaints regarding small change and significantly reduced overcrowding at station booking windows.

Top Performing Stations and the RailOne App

Leading the division in digital adoption, Aligarh Junction recorded an impressive 37.55 percent of its total ticket sales through digital modes in August 2026, closely followed by Prayagraj Junction at 34.47 percent.

To further boost this digital transformation, the railways launched the RailOne app on July 1, 2025. Railway officials have clarified an important rule for app users: passengers traveling on digital unreserved tickets must present the original ticket directly within the RailOne app during ticket inspection. Screenshots, PDFs, downloaded photos, or WhatsApp-shared versions of tickets are strictly invalid. As a special incentive to promote cashless travel, passengers continue to receive a 3 percent financial benefit when booking tickets through the RailOne app, a policy that the administration has also extended to other approved digital payment methods at the counters.