Cleartrip launches chat-based train search service

Online travel company Cleartrip.com has launched a new chat-based train search service that allows users to check train schedules and availability through basic internet chat, such as Google Talk. To use the service, one first needs to add cleartrip.trains@gmail.com as a friend in GTalk, after which the Cleartrip train search bot starts acting like an online advisor.

To search trains, one needs to send a message with journey details like 'mumbai new delhi mar 08 3A' (origin, destination, date of travel and class of travel). According to the company, the user needs not worry about the syntax, if the search bot requires more information it will ask for it.

On sending a message like ‘avail 6345’ (availability, train number), the search bot responds with the train availability status for upto 6 days. One can also book a train ticket by sending a message like ‘book 6345 22 apr’ (book, train number, date of journey).

“At Cleartrip, we believe we took the train search experience a giant leap forward when we launched search and booking for Indian Railways trains. As a company dedicated to making travel simple, easing the planning, searching and booking process for trains is core to our mission. Today, we are thrilled to announce that we have made things even easier -- you can now check train schedules and availability using basic internet chat,” Hrush Bhatt, founder and director, product and strategy, Cleartrip.com, has said.

“In addition to being our first automated chat based search, this also marks our first foray into natural language search for travel. So, do keep in mind that this 'Trains chat bot' is an experimental product of Cleartrip Research and may behave unexpectedly as computers often do. Also, we are not completely thrilled with the display formats and messages yet, so those might be changing frequently over the next few days,” Hrush Bhatt has added.