New Delhi: How many times have you called railway enquiry to enquire whether the train your relatives are coming on is on time only to hear the frustrating message "Aap kataar mein hain, kripya pratiksha kijiye (Your call is in queue, please wait)"?
Finally there is an end to the frustrating anxiety in sight. The railway enquiry, which is unreachable and when reached mannned by unhelpful staff, will now be taken over by outsiders.
The management fraternity's toast of the year, Railways Minister Lalu Prasad is outsourcing railway enquiry to call centres.
If all goes as the railways have planned, by next year the entire enquiry operations will be outsourced, which means trained call centre professionals, equipped with high-tech hardware and software, will be incharge of the information outflow.
This in turn means goodbye to jammed enquiry lines and hello to quick and specific information access.
Once the new system comes into effect, all one has to do is dial 139 from anywhere in the country to check for the latest update.
What's more, in case of delayed arrivals and departures, the passengers will get smart SMS alerts.
Credited with turning the railways around, this is the new management guru in Lalu Prasad putting the system on the track of the 21st century. His friends of the Left Front however are not happy with his new avatar.
Says CPM leader Sitarm Yechury, "This is a slow way of privatising the railways. It's something that is happening across the world."
However, with stiff competition from low-cost airlines, the Indian Railways have little choice but to become commuter-friendly.
The IIM has already been lauding the organisation for its makeover and Lalu is in no mood to apply the brakes now.
Source : rediff
Finally there is an end to the frustrating anxiety in sight. The railway enquiry, which is unreachable and when reached mannned by unhelpful staff, will now be taken over by outsiders.
The management fraternity's toast of the year, Railways Minister Lalu Prasad is outsourcing railway enquiry to call centres.
If all goes as the railways have planned, by next year the entire enquiry operations will be outsourced, which means trained call centre professionals, equipped with high-tech hardware and software, will be incharge of the information outflow.
This in turn means goodbye to jammed enquiry lines and hello to quick and specific information access.
Once the new system comes into effect, all one has to do is dial 139 from anywhere in the country to check for the latest update.
What's more, in case of delayed arrivals and departures, the passengers will get smart SMS alerts.
Credited with turning the railways around, this is the new management guru in Lalu Prasad putting the system on the track of the 21st century. His friends of the Left Front however are not happy with his new avatar.
Says CPM leader Sitarm Yechury, "This is a slow way of privatising the railways. It's something that is happening across the world."
However, with stiff competition from low-cost airlines, the Indian Railways have little choice but to become commuter-friendly.
The IIM has already been lauding the organisation for its makeover and Lalu is in no mood to apply the brakes now.
Source : rediff