Method

 

 A .User registration and login                   

                  In this system users will have to log into the system using the username and the password via the mobile app. If he /she doesn’t has an account the passenger has to create an account by giving the required details such as name, NIC, date of birth and etc. In there they have to set a username and a password. The details of the passengers will be stored in cloud based database system. After that they will be able to log in at any time by giving username and password.

           B . Normal ticket reservation

              Then the passenger have to select the source and destination. The system will show the train timetable that can travel to the selected destination and the passenger have to choose the train for travel.  If the user needs normal train tickets, then user can select the class from 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd and the user have to set number of tickets. Then the system will calculate the price and display it.

          C. Seat reservation

              A special seat reservation method is used here. If there is a facility to reserve seats for the selected train, the seat can be reserved by the seat reservation method. In the existing seat reservation system, passengers need to visit ticket reservation counters located in the railway station and wait in queues until their chance. Existing methods are time consuming and not user-friendly. Also, passengers are not allowed to choose a seat of their choice and must go to their destination in a seat provided by the relevant officials.  We proposed our system as a solution for this issue.

This includes the seating arrangement of the relevant compartment, the number of seats, the number of seats currently reserved. The user can view the currently reserved seats and the remaining seats in the form of seat map and can even choose the seats of their choice. There, the seats will indicate distinctly in different colors depending on whether the person who booked the seat is a male, female or a group. Since the system has stored the information of the passenger in the cloud based database, Most importantly if the passenger is a regular traveler, the system will predict the most appropriate seat out of the available seats for the passenger considering his/her previous reservations and preferences. We will be used a trained ML model for this prediction process. Users can select any seat by their choice from the suggested seat. In creating this component, have to check passenger's previous data. Passenger's age, gender and requirements such as disabilities conditions will considered here to suggest seats. This method is enhancing user-friendliness compared to the currently existing systems. After that system will calculate the price and display it.

    D. Chatbot function

       Also a chatbot function is used here .Using this the passenger can resolve the problems regarding the railway ticket and seat reservation process.  This software will be developed with machine learning and deep learning technology .It will be possible to find the solutions for the passengers by ask questions via chatbot. Natural language will be used to ask questions through chatbot .Therefore, Deep Learning (DL)  algorithms and Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques will be used to implemented the chatbot.

   E. Purchasing process and QR code generation

       In the purchasing process, the system will ask for the bank account number for the passenger and the system will check whether it is the correct details before issuing the digital ticket. And also can use a debit card or a credit card as a payment method in BOC, HNB, Sampath, Commercial as payment gateways. After the payment process a unique code and a QR-Code will be generated at the server end and the codes will also be stored in the cloud database. Then those codes will send to the passenger's mobile. So that the passenger can use the QR-Code as the ticket. This ticket will be validated by the ticket checker at the station. This enhance security more than the existing method.

   F. Cancelling process

      In fact, if the passenger wants to cancel the reservation, it can also be done via the system.  The passengers can check their booking history and cancel their tickets via the system. In such case only 75% of the amount is refunded. The remaining 25% will be charged as a fine but this cancelation must be made at least day in advance. If a train is canceled for any reason, the passenger will be notified via a notification and also full amount of charge will be refund.