In a bid to make passengers’ life easier, Indian Railways launched an integrated one-stop solution – Rail Madad’ in which the national transporter has merged a number of existing helplines that were used for various purposes into one.

A number of helplines that earlier existed on the Railways for various purposes have been merged into one helpline i.e. 139 which can be used for all enquiry needs and for complaint making. The 139 helpline facility is available round the clock in 12 languages.

Railways launched RailMadad, the integrated & innovative one-stop solution for customer grievance, enquiry, suggestion and assistance, providing passengers the choice to access RailMadad through multiple channels, namely, Web, App, SMS, Social Media and Helpline number (139) during the journey for expeditious resolution of their complaints.

Menu of 139 Helpline (IVRS) is as:

• For security & medical assistance, passenger has to press 1, which connects immediately to a call center executive
• For enquiry, passenger has to press 2 and in the sub menu, information regarding pnr status, arrival/departure of the train, accommodation, fare enquiry, ticket booking, system ticket cancellation, wake up alarm facility/destination alert, wheel chair booking, meal booking can be obtained.
• For general complaints, passenger has to press 4
• For vigilance related complaints, passenger has to press  5
• For Parcel & goods related queries, passenger has to press 6
• For IRCTC operated trains queries, passenger has to press 7
• For status of complaints, passenger has to press 9
• For talking to call center executive, passenger has to press *( asterisk)

On an average basis, 139 helpline receives 3,44,513 enquiry calls/sms per day. Ministry of Railways also launched social media campaign #OneRailOneHelpline139 in the past to inform and educate the passengers.

As per the information given by the Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw in Rajya Sabha, 99.93% of complaints received through 139 helpline get closed and 72% of the feedback given by complainants is ‘Excellent’ or ‘Satisfactory’ in FY 2020-21.