Innovation and New Product Development Case Study

Indian Railways – IT Innovations in Passenger Services

OR

Abstract:
The Indian Railways’ operated in a highly complex environment that made it imperative for its operations to be continuously updated with timely and accurate information to a variety of business concerns. Further, the optimum utilisation of the available resources demanded deployment of a robust infrastructure through implementation of innovative and economical technologies.

This case provides the reader an insight into the various cost-saving innovations that were adopted by IR in improving and advancing their passenger services. The progressive implementation of IT served as a thrust towards better responsiveness to the rising passenger demands. The communication infrastructure that IR built up over the years not only helped it cater effectively to the ascending customer needs but also opened new avenues for revenue generation. It augmented its revenues and also helped it cut down surplus expenditures through better utilisation of resources by way of improved demand analysis, better management of coaches and efficient utilisation of railway tracks.

Pedagogical Objectives:

• To discuss the successive IT implementations at IR and how they help IR to cut cost and increase efficiency
• To analyse how IT is helping the passengers in better utilising the railway's services.

Keywords : Indian Railways; Smithsonian Awards; EDP (electronic data processing); Impress; Concert; Centre for Railways Information Systems (CRIS); CML; Passenger Reservation System (PRS); Integrated Voice Response System (IVRS); Unreserved Ticketing Service (UTS); Innovation Management Case Study; e-Ticket