CHENNAI: Metro rail commuters in Chennai could soon walk into any station and take a train without making the effort of swiping their smart cards or waiting in queues at the ticket counters to buy tokens. Chennai Metro Rail is in the process of introducing contactless smart cards , where commuters can simply walk in through scanner gates with a tiny chip or a card with a chip and get their ticket price deducted. The cards could eventually be used across all modes of transport.Chennai Metro Rail Ltd ( CMRL ) has invited tenders to design, manufacture and supply contactless smart cards."It is like how your car has a small chip and you cross a toll booth. The money is automatically deducted. This contactless smart card system is being followed in metro rail facilities in other countries," an official said.CMRL has already made use of smart card facilities mandatory in its underground stretch between Nehru Park and Thirumangalam. Though it cuts down on the time commuters spend at the ticket counters, they still have to swipe the card manually to deduct their ticket price."The size of the card won't be very small as there are chances of losing it. It will be in a size that passengers can safely keep. Also, the problem of swiping machines not working won't exist anymore," an official said.

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