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The
following are some of the complex requirements
of railway ticketing that need to be addressed:
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Work
in a callous and dusty environment
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Should
work 24 hours, 365 days — round-the-clock.
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Highly
secured — no data loss
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Meet
all ticketing functionality
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Transaction
time — 5 to 15 seconds per
passenger
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Flexible
audit operations
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Frequent
change in business logic and fare
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Ease
of maintenance and implementation
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User-friendly
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System
description
The ARTS-2 or A-2 in
short is a comprehensive solution for
railways to cater their unreserved ticketing
activities. ARTS-2 is the second upgraded
version of ARTS, which has completed 10
successful years. The system is basically
built on a client-server-based architecture.
The system has two main components, namely
the A-2 client and A-2 server, apart from
other communication components to make
it operational. The A-2 client is an intelligent
special purpose ticketing terminal, with
capabilities of issuing all types of journey
and non-journey unreserved tickets for
passengers. Independent transaction-wise
reports can be generated from each of
these client systems. All A-2 client systems
are networked through LAN. This enables
one to achieve a real universal counter-operation
without compromising security in any manner.
The A2-client network in-turn is connected
to a centralised server (A-2 server) installed
at the Zonal Railways' Head Quarters.
In addition to generating various accounting
reports, the A-2 server also has the capability
of monitoring the client systems and programming
the client's with the software and data
updates as and when required.
The
A-2 client system is a universal ticketing
system that performs all the counter-operations
of unreserved ticketing. The main operations
it performs are:
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Issue
of tickets
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Non-issue
of tickets
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Cancellation
of tickets
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Time-off
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Accounting
and generation of reports
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The
A-2 server is a backend high range server,
located in headquarters. The A-2 server
performs various activities to cater the
needs of various departments such as traffic,
accounts, vigilance, etc. This system enables
a centralised administration of the entire
unreserved ticketing operation for better
and efficient management. The main operations
it performs are:
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Data
preparation
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Data
modification
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Accounting
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Remote
monitoring
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Remote
programming
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Technology
/ software used
Visual Basic (VB),
Embedded Windows NT
Client
ARTS application is developed for Indian
Railways, India. The ARTS application
is running successfully in the production
environment. ART is implemented in approximately
450 stations covering all zones of the
Indian Railways. CMC has supplied 3000
ARTS machines till date.
ARTS-2,
an upgraded version of ARTS is being used
in production environment by Indian Railways.
Contact
Head
- Transportation
CMC Limited
C-18, Bandra Kurla Complex,
Bandra (East)
Mumbai 400051 India
Tel: 91-22-26591000/01/02
Fax: 91-22-26591046
Email:
transportation@cmcltd.com
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