The search for the status of the trains in India has been a headache for many. While several websites work, there are often fluctuations in the results. Google has come up with a very easy going, convenient solution to this problem. The company has newly acquired a software application “Where Is My Train” that will help you to locate, find out, and trace the train’s activity so that you can sit back and relax and not hurry anymore. The best part about the app is that it is available in many languages, i.e., it is multi-lingual. The acquisition details have however not been disclosed.
This is the second acquisition of Google in the Indian market. The first had been acquired at Halli Labs which is a Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence start-up. Google had got into a conversation to take the receipt of about $30-40 Million for the same. The Chinese company Xiaomi also wished to invest in this Bengaluru-based start-up company.
In accordance with the IRCTC timetables by the Indian Railways, the company will use every cell tower nearby to locate the position of the train. Google is wishing to hit a market of about a billion users. So, the Next Billion Initiative is already on track.
The app is available in multi-Indian languages, Bengali, Tamil, English, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Telugu, and Malayalam. The app also helps the travelers to understand and find out their coaches, berths and seat numbers, the position of the train in platforms and many more. Offline tracking of the train is also an amazing feature of the app.
The app has opted for one of the best mobile phone apps in the country. It is very user-friendly and requires no extra-hands for its usage.
The train category amongst the others has a good room for its growth. It already has had over 5 million downloads, and being used by all, surpassing Ixigo with only 3 million installs as according to the data revealed form November 2018. While Google is already into competition in the Indian market with Ixigo, the apps have to quite develop further to outnumber the rival in its utility performance. Railyatri has much more to proffer than any of the above-said apps. Therefore, it has elevated to a whopping figure of $10 Million, is the next level competition for the newly launched app.
Sighting train on a map is not as difficult as tracking a flight but legitimizing the user-base is the main challenge.
