Buying tickets at the counter while traveling by trains in Sri Lanka can be a pain because of the lengthy lines during rush hours and the requirement for change, which can cause you to move more slowly. Pravesha makes traveling easier by enabling you to easily skip the ticket counter queues and go directly to your train.

What is Pravesha?

In 2024, the Sri Lankan Railway Department launched Pravesha, one of the official sites for buying train tickets. Without having to stand in long lines at station counters, it enables customers to easily buy commuter train tickets to travel on regular trains across the island.

Pravesha provides a hassle-free experience for both frequent and infrequent travelers by enabling passengers to conveniently purchase their train tickets in advance and make payments online. The platform is intended to facilitate train travel, particularly for individuals who depend on trains for their everyday commute. From any location at any time, travelers can secure their tickets by following a few simple steps.

It is important to remember that Pravesha is not the same as the Railway Department of Sri Lanka's Online Train Ticket Booking and Reservation website, which is used to book seats on intercity trains. Rather, Pravesha concentrates on improving the effectiveness and convenience of commuter train ticket purchases for passengers on regular trains.

How to buy tickets through Praveesha?

The official website that enables commuters to easily buy tickets for Sri Lankan general trains is called Pravesha. Up to five individuals can purchase tickets at once on the platform, and reservations can be made up to seven days in advance.

Using Pravesha to buy train tickets is easy and only requires a few quick steps:

• 1. Click "Buy Commuter Ticket" after visiting www.pravesha.lk.
• 2. Choose the station where the train trip will commence.
• 3. Select the station at which the journey will come to an end.
• 4. Depending on your preference, choose First Class, Second Class, or Third Class.t
• 5. From the calendar, select the date of travel.
• 6. Enter the total number of passengers, including children and adults.
• 7. Just select the "Select Return Trip" option and choose the return date if you want to buy return tickets.
• 8. The system will show the total cost of the ticket at the bottom of the page after all the choices have been made. To continue, click the "Buy" button.

After seeing a summary of their transaction, travelers can select whether they want to receive their ticket by email, SMS, or both. Click "Confirm & Pay" once you have accepted the terms and conditions. After that, travelers will be taken to a secure payment gateway where they may finish the transaction by entering their card information.

Following a successful payment, travelers will be taken back to Pravesha and given the choice to download and print the digital ticket for sharing or printing. In addition, a confirmation email or SMS with the ticket ID and QR code will be sent to the traveler.

Only the chosen travel date will be covered by the ticket, which will take no more than 30 minutes to activate. Long lines are no longer necessary thanks to this smooth operation, which makes train travel more convenient than before.

How to pay?

When purchasing train tickets through Pravesha, passengers can pay for the tickets using their credit or debit cards. Cards will be charged in Sri Lankan Ruppes at the time of the ticket purchase. The payment gateway of Pravesha does support 3DS payment processing, and it’s as secure as any card payment gateway in the world. Upon completing the payment, the passenger will receive a payment confirmation along with the ticket to the given email address or an SMS to the given phone number.

Passengers can easily pay for their train tickets using credit or debit cards when utilizing Pravesha, which streamlines and eases the ticketing process overall. For the convenience and transparency of both domestic and foreign travelers, payments are made in Sri Lankan Rupees (LKR) at the time of ticket purchase.

Using 3D Secure (3DS) payment processing technology, a widely accepted security standard utilized by significant financial institutions, Pravesha's payment gateway is extremely safe. Every payment is as safe and dependable as any card payment gateway in the world thanks to this extra degree of security, which also helps shield travelers from fraudulent transactions.

Passengers will receive the digital train ticket and a payment confirmation as soon as the payment is successfully completed. Depending on the passenger's request, the ticket will be sent to either the given phone number or the email address they have provided. In addition to the Ticket ID, this digital ticket will have a QR code that may be shared with others if necessary or used to validate the ticket at the station.

Passengers can purchase tickets with confidence, thanks to Pravesha's secure payment system, which eliminates the hassle of exchanging cash at ticket counters and guarantees that their purchases are handled securely.

How to verify at ticket at station?

Passengers must show a valid ticket for their trip when they enter a train station or board a train. Passengers can easily present their digital ticket with the QR code or just the Ticket ID they received via email or SMS for tickets bought through Pravesha. Physical paper tickets are no longer necessary thanks to this simplified procedure, making travel more economical and environmentally friendly.

When utilizing tickets bought through Pravesha, passengers do not need to show any other paperwork, like as printed copies or identity, to prove their trip. The only evidence needed to verify the ticket's legitimacy is the supplied QR code or ticket ID. At station entrance points and during train ticket checks, this guarantees a speedy and easy ticket verification procedure.

Train guards on board and railway employees at train stations are outfitted with the required equipment to cross-check ticket IDs or scan QR codes to confirm the legitimacy of the tickets. Passengers can proceed with their travel without needless delays thanks to the quick and precise verification process.

Pravesha improves the overall train travel experience by providing digital tickets and streamlined verification, making it more practical and accessible for both frequent and infrequent passengers.

Benefits of Praveesha?

Pravesha makes the entire trip more convenient, effective, and hassle-free for travelers taking the Sri Lankan train by providing a number of important advantages. For both regular commuters and infrequent travelers, the platform is made to streamline the ticket buying process while improving the whole travel experience.

Avoiding lengthy lines at ticket desks, particularly during busy times, is one of the main benefits of utilizing Pravesha. Passengers can go straight to the ticket check-in gate, show their digital ticket or Ticket ID, and then travel straight to the platform where the train comes, bypassing the line at the railway station. Especially for travelers who commute during peak hours, this option saves a significant amount of time and greatly improves the smoothness of the entire trip.

The ability to buy tickets without using actual cash transactions is another important advantage of Pravesha. Instead of carrying cash or fumbling with exact change at ticket counters, travelers can safely pay for their tickets online at any time, from any location, using credit or debit cards. In addition to being more convenient, this cashless payment option improves transaction security and safety

With conventional paper tickets, there's always a chance of misplacing the ticket while traveling, which could cause needless problems when you get there. Pravesha, on the other hand, gives customers digital tickets with a QR code, which makes it simpler to carry, show, and validate the ticket at any time while traveling. This digital-first strategy reduces the possibility of ticket loss and gives travelers a more trustworthy means of proving they bought their tickets.

The ability to buy tickets for all general trains—aside from Intercity Express Trains—before arriving at the train station is another significant advantage of utilizing Pravesha. As a result, travelers may schedule their trips ahead of time without worrying about whether tickets will be available at the station.

Pravesha also facilitates the process of requesting ticket refunds in the event that travel plans are altered. Without physically visiting the station, travelers can use the platform to obtain a refund of up to 70% of the ticket value via the website. Compared to the manual refund procedure, which usually necessitates travelers to physically visit the station and complete extensive paperwork, this is a significant improvement.

By combining all of these elements, Pravesha offers passengers a more intelligent, quick, and safe method to travel by train throughout Sri Lanka in addition to a more easy way to buy tickets.