PASSENGERS need no longer wait in queues or use their home computers to buy railway tickets. On February 1 rail passenger operator Železničná Spoločnosť Slovensko (ZSSK) launched a new service, eMIL, an electronic mobile internet rail ticket, ZSSK general director Pavel Kravec announced. The service has been designed for people who have mobile phones with internet access and payment cards that enable electronic operations, the TASR newswire reported.
Via the eMIL service passengers can buy one-way rail tickets for all domestic services, i.e. within Slovakia. They can do so up to 60 days before they travel, but must buy the ticket at least three hours before their journey starts. The exception is for InterCity trains, for which tickets can be purchased up to 15 minutes before departure. Tickets can only be purchased for specific passengers travelling on specific trains.
After purchasing a ticket at www.slovakrail.sk, the passenger receives a text message with a transaction number. He or she must then show this number to the conductor on the train. At the same time as it introduced the new service, ZSSK removed the obligation for passengers using internet-purchased tickets to carry a printed copy.
During December about 35,000 passengers bought their rail tickets via the internet. Because passengers do not now need to print their tickets, ZSSK hopes that internet sales will increase.
