Aadhaar number has been made mandatory for senior citizens to avail concessions on train tickets from April 1. A three-month trial run is going on. (Photo: PTI/File)

New Delhi: The Railways has decided to move towards an Aadhaar-based online ticketing system to prevent touts from blocking tickets in bulk, end fraudulent bookings and curb cases of impersonation.

Aadhaar number has been made mandatory for senior citizens to avail concessions on train tickets from April 1. A three-month trial run is going on.

As per the new business plan 2017-18, unveiled by Railway minister Suresh Prabhu, the Railways will move towards cashless ticketing by installing 6,000 point-of-sale machines and 1,000 automatic ticket vending machines across the country.

An integrated ticketing app will also be launched by May to promote cashless transactions. The minister said that the Railways has been constantly changing its freight policies to attract more freight.

“We have fixed a target of saving Rs 41,000 crore in the next 10 years on energy,” he said.