Mumbai, Feb 7 (IANS): Setting a new record, the Western Railway has sold a staggering 550,000 tickets through the UTS App to Mumbai suburban train passengers in a single day, an official said here on Friday.

The feat was achieved on February 3 when 550,000 - or around 11.03 per cent of the day's 5.28 million commuters - bought tickets through the UTS App on their mobiles, said WR spokesperson Ravinder Bhakar.

"During November 2018, the average daily active users were 124,000 which climbed to 339,000 in January 2020, and shot upto 550,000 on February 3. This mode of digital ticketing has become a hit among the commuters," he said.

The objective of introducing the UTS App was to promote self-ticketing and ensure passengers buy tickets without facing the ordeal of long queues at various railway stations.

For this, the WR carried out rigorous awareness campaigns and roped in college students, across the suburban network and highlighted the utility and benefits, including a 5 percent bonus on every recharge amounts, and has appealed to all commuters to utilise the UTS App to book their tickets and hop onto a train.

Bhakar said the App is easy to download and simple to operate, and all unreserved and season tickets can be booked on it, with options available for paper or paperless tickets and for quick payments through inbuilt R-Wallet or other channels.