NFTs for Semi-High-Speed Trains
Indian Railways will provide nonfungible token (NFT) train tickets for two specific Delhi-bound trains between March 20th and April 2nd on the occasion of the Hindu festival, Holi.
The Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) announced that passengers of two newly launched semi-high-speed trains — Tejas Express 82501 and 82502 — would receive train tickets in the form of NFTs.
Celebrating Cultural Heritage
IRCTC stated in an official post: “These tickets are not merely digital souvenirs; they are a celebration of the rich cultural tapestry of (the Indian cities of) Lucknow and Delhi.”
With NFT train tickets, India aims to enhance the “journey experiences” of travellers by allowing the creation of personalized NFTs that can be verified on the blockchain by authorities and the public.
Tribute to the Holi Festival
The initiative pays tribute to the festival of Holi, known as the festival of colours, and is co-powered by a digitization platform, NFTtrace. The company will help maintain the records of train ticket purchases on the Hyperledger blockchain and employ smart contracts to govern the traceability process.
Over 1.2 million tickets are booked on IRCTC daily, which could significantly increase NFT adoption if the initiative goes mainstream in the region for all trains. Digitizing tickets with NFTs will prevent the prevalent issue of forgery and misplacements.
India’s Blockchain Platforms
India recently revealed that it primarily makes use of three blockchain platforms for the development of its products — Hyperledger Fabric, Hyperledger Sawtooth, and Ethereum. On March 6, it was revealed that nearly eight million government-issued verifiable documents are currently hosted across five blockchains owned and operated by India’s National Informatics Centre, a government agency.
The five blockchain products currently used in India are certificate chain, document chain, drug logistics chain, judiciary chain, and property chain.
Image by Ben Sutherland on Flickr
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